


Fate/Circus Maximus

by korinachan (MysteriousMachination)



Category: Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, Original Work
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Based on Fate/Apocrypha, Fights, Holy Grail, Holy Grail War (Fate), Original Fiction, Road Trips, Tags Are Hard, my first story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:15:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 147,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25210750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysteriousMachination/pseuds/korinachan
Summary: The year is 1984. The Holy Grail War, a battle royale for a single all-purpose wish, is starting... about ten years too soon.A mysterious cult has attacked the city of Fuyuki, incapacitating the local mages and attempting to make off with an important part of the ritual. The Magic Association, seizing the opportunity to steal the ritual for themselves, have hired a team of mercenaries and specialists to fight against the cult. But the cult has already chosen Masters and summoned Servants, powerful familiars who are based on heroes and legends of old, and have taken the ritual to America. Can the Associations team of misfits manage to recover the wish granting device? Or will this enigmatic group of fanatics accomplish their goals?
Comments: 15
Kudos: 1





	1. The Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first original story, well "original". I thought this out after watching Fate/Apocrypha and I've been dying to post it somewhere.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy it because there's more to come

“Got everything we need?” It’s a voice I don’t recognize; it must be from one of the new soldiers that came after everything settled down. 

It was nighttime, and I could hear a group of men talking from outside the walls. “Yes. The barrier is up on the ship and they are about to load the Grail in.” That one sounds like the Professor. I hope he stays with me the whole way. He promised he would “What about the founders? Are they on their way to England?” Oh yes, them. I had been in such a rush, I hadn’t even considered what else might be happening.

“We received word from the guards: everything is looking alright on their side. Tohsaka and Matou are in Association custody. Still, we need to move fast. We don’t want to be caught with our pants down.” They sound concerned. Those people that attacked us haven’t shown up since yesterday, but it’s better not to risk another fight.

“Nothing from this side either.” Another new voice, this one thick with an accent I didn’t recognize. Though that was not so weird for me anymore, all things considered.

The professor answers. “It appears luck is on our side, gentlemen. Even still, better safe than sorry.” With that last sentence, the cargo began moving, making too much noise to overhear anything else.

As I was rushed out here, I didn’t have time to think about what was happening. I did what I was told, without being a problem. They did seem to be doing all of this for my sake, after all. One thing that I hadn’t considered though, was this burning question that now, in my solitude, had come to the forefront of my mind.

Would he be able to find me?

***

It was weird for a specific Head of Department at the Magic Association to summon a freelance magus to meet in person. Usually anyone that important would just speak through intermediaries, familiars, or messages. As the pair was walking the halls, they  _ had _ been stopped by Clock Tower’s security a couple of times, but that was down to the old magus’ appearance. Even after multiple screenings, people still gave them the side eye and were plain disturbed by the pair.

“Hey, Kaito. Notice the weird looks we been gettin’?” The older man spoke down to his young companion. The man’s dress, a black trench coat with equally dark pants, didn’t look any different from any other English gentleman. The problem was with his face. The man’s right side was clearly and heavily scarred from some kind of burns. It was an extensive scar, starting from his neck and running all the way up, covering his right eye and cheek. He used an eyepatch for modesty’s sake, but that didn’t do much to cover the rest. He was easily as old or older than most teachers at the Clock Tower, but he was also easily more muscular than any of them, with broad, sharp shoulders and a broad, sharp gaze to go along with.

The young man that walked beside, Kaito, answered his question cheerily. “It’s hard not to when they drop whatever they’re doing to stare.” In contrast to his master, Kaito could have passed as any other student in the hallways. He had a dark golden brown head of hair, with hazelnut eyes and fair skin, this young man hadn’t dropped his smile since entering the Clock Tower. For him, it was amazing seeing a place filled with so many magi. The boy wore more casual clothing than his counterpart: an orange sweater and black jeans. He also carried a satchel bag over his shoulder, resting on his left side. “Wait. What do you mean ‘we’? They are very obviously all for you, sensei.” 

His playful tone irked his grizzled companion. As they rounded a corner, the old man grabbed Kaito by the elbow and used his stern voice to speak. “Every disrespect towards me is disrespect towards you! Remember that...”

As he turned around and continued to walk, Kaito spoke up, a bit confused. “Isn’t that the other way…”

His teacher cut him off, raising the volume of his voice. “More importantly! It shows how small their world is if a scarred man shocks them like that.”

Noticing how angry his teacher had been ever since the pair arrived, and maybe just annoyed by the atmosphere, the young man knew better than to push the argument. “Whatever you say, sensei. Who are we meeting anyway?”

Continuing down the hallway, the master sighed at having to re-explain what they had already discussed. “Head of the Department of Summoning. He asked for me specifically. I only brought you with me so that you wouldn’t get lost.” He didn’t trust his student was clever enough to navigate this building, let alone the streets of London.

After shooting his teacher a frustrated look, “Looks like we’re here.” Kaito pointed at a door to their right and the pair stopped.

The older man checked his watch and realized he arrived just on time. “Make yourself useful and watch the door.” Just as he went to knock on the office door, the pair were approached by another person.

A female student walking from the opposite direction approached them. “Are you here to meet with the Dean as well?” She had fair skin, blue eyes, and long, blonde hair held in a French braid. She was so beautiful that it took Kaito a few extra seconds to break eye contact. She wore a blue linen jacket and a white blouse underneath, while below she had a pair of white shorts and blue thigh-high boots.

As the man turned to meet her, the girl reacted to the older man’s face. It was the most subtle reaction he had seen all day, but it was still noticeable. He spoke quickly to cover her embarrassment. “If he cited you at this hour, it’s most likely.” The Dean hadn’t said anything about another person coming, but then again, the initial message didn’t say anything much at all. The man knocked on the door and the Dean was quick to answer.

Reacting cheerfully to his guests, the dean beckoned them inside. “Oh, you arrived together! That will help to move things along.” As he led the two of them inside, Kaito had to be reminded to keep watch outside. “Good day to you both. I’m the Dean of the Department of Summoning, Rocco Belfaban.” He was a short old man, much skinnier than the magus in the trench coat and sporting ten times as many wrinkles. The dean proceeded with the introductions for each guest, pointing first to the girl. “This here is one of the best students in the Tower: Evelyn, of the Robicheaux family.” His hand drifted at the other guest. “And this man is Samuel Chisholm, known in most circles as ‘Dragon’s Breath’. Bounty hunter and freelance magus.”

The grizzled man and student shook hands. “Heard about the Robicheaux family. They are no Lords, sure, but they sure are something.”

The girl decided to take the comment as praise and responded in kind. “Thanks. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the pleasure of hearing your family name.” She was unaware of his heritage, let alone his name.

The faculty head chuckled. “That’s understandable, child. Samuel’s work takes him all over the world. It’s better to keep his real name hidden.” Introductions finished, he showed them to their seats; two couches resting on opposite sides of the messy room. Despite the stacks of books and general lack of space, both guests were able to sit down as the Dean made his way to his desk. Before anyone could ask why they were there, he asked a simple question. “Tell me, do either of you know about the Fuyuki’s Holy Grail Wars?”

Both Evelyn and Samuel were surprised by the question, but the grizzled mage was quick enough to recover. “Of course. They are infamous, in their own twisted way.” He took a look at the girl sitting across from him, thinking she could use a brief summary. “It’s a fight where Masters summon ancient heroes and command them to fight against each other until there is only one left. The winner of the war gets all of its wishes granted, apparently.” Although the magus had no details about the whole affair, everything he knew came from general knowledge and rumors.

Composing herself, Evelyn spoke up. “Is the war starting? It’s a few years early.” Based on her recollection, it was some ten years or so off schedule.

“Yes, it is, in fact. What matters right now is what triggered it.” The Dean reached into one of the desk’s drawers and pulled out a dossier. “The whole system that is the Holy Grail War is a complicated mess on its own, so here is the abridged version.” The guests were presented with a couple of pictures showing a golden cup. “In this war, usually, seven heroic spirits are summoned by seven Masters. Each spirit fuels what is called the Lesser Grail, that golden cup, with its magical energy after they are eliminated from the war. Once six essences are accounted for, the Lesser Grail connects with what is known as the Greater Grail, and that has enough power to grant any wish to the remaining Master.” He waited for the questions that would surely come.

As he caught up with the point of this meeting, Samuel began to state his doubts just to be sure. “So, in other words, if you don’t have the Lesser Grail, you can’t work the whole thing.”

Snapping his fingers at that, the dean excitedly continued. “Exactly, Samuel. You’ve pretty much hit the nail on the head. Which brings me to the meat of the problem.” He showed them another picture, this one of a burnt piece of cloth, with a symbol engraved on it. The symbol was a golden eagle spreading his wings, enclosed in two golden olive branches, with only two words beneath. “Vox Nihili. That’s what they’re calling themselves. Two days ago, this mysterious faction attacked all our assets in Fuyuki. All three of the Major Families’ strongholds, the Kotomine Church, everything. It was clear that the objective of this surprise attack was to take the Lesser Grail for themselves.”

Evelyn spoke up, wasting no time. “So you called us to retrieve the Grail, right?”

The Dean shook his head. “Not at all; the Grail is still in our hands and we are planning to bring it here as we speak. The problem is how we managed to keep it from falling into enemy hands.” As he got himself comfortable in his seat, and his guest did too. “At the time of the attack, the Grail was at the Kotomine Church, but the enemy didn’t know that. The idiots got themselves into a three-front fight against the founding families before realizing their target wasn’t being kept by any of them. Another piece of luck was that one of our agents was there to check on the Grail at the time everything else was happening. Professor Faraday was able to secure the Grail and get the heads of the families to safety. The only way he was able to do this was to activate a sort of emergency measure with the help of the Head of the church.”

“Well, the old Professor sure is a crafty one.” Samuel raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

After Evelyn smiled at the comment, the Dean proceeded. “Once he did that, the war changed in a big way. It seems now there will be two factions, each with seven Masters and seven Servants, fighting against each other until only one faction is left.”

“So, you want us to fight and win the war for the Magic Association then?” The old bounty hunter was more than willing to do it, for the right price. Though he could probably hide his enthusiasm better.

The Dean responded uneasily, unsettling both guests. Even if this were harsh truth, they should be aware. “Yes and no. We know for sure the Vox Nihili have already started summoning their Servants, and the Grail will arrive at the shores of America in a few days. What we need is time to bring it here. For that, we need your help.”

Samuel was finally getting what the Association was planning. “Ah, you need us to be the frontline while you sneak the Grail from under their noses. To keep the enemy at bay and hope we survive all the way to the end.”

The faculty head grimaced. There was a student in the room, and this man was surely not helping to ease her into the situation. “Not at all! You will have all the help you need from the Association, even the Holy Church has told us they will support our faction. It’s not us throwing you to the wolves, alone.”

Samuel crossed his arms and gave a stern look. “It sure isn’t, but I bet you will watch while the wolves tear us to pieces.”

Evelyn jumped up, feigning some courage. “I’ll go!” Maybe some of it was real; they could tell by her eyes. “The only thing we need to do is buy time. I can do more than that.” She had confidence in her skills and had faith in the Magic Association. Nothing could make her back down from such an opportunity.

Giving it some serious thought, Samuel knew this could mean certain death or worse for him, honestly nothing out of the ordinary for his line of work. However, most of the time he worked alone or with people he knew he could trust. This meeting had already taken a turn for the worse knowing he had to work with two strangers. Well, a stranger and an old acquaintance. What’s worse is he knew that girl had no idea what she was getting into when she said yes. After Samuel stopped tapping his foot on the ground, he finally answered. “I’ll do it, on two conditions. First thing is, you know my work ain’t cheap. I want double.”

“That’s fine by us. We already knew as much when we first called.” The Association wouldn’t have called him if they weren’t willing to shell out some serious cash for this.

“Alright, then you won’t have any trouble with what comes next. With two of your people and me in the group, we still need four Masters. You will let me choose those four Masters.”

The Dean had to bite his tongue before speaking, avoiding what first came to mind. “Samuel, please… you know how the board will react. We already have people planned for this. The best magi from the Association…”

He cut off the faculty head mid-sentence. “You better round them up to escort the Grail. What we need is people experienced with fighting other magi. I’ll let you have a lecturer and a student, but if you have any intention of having us back alive, you will let me call some of my people.”

Dealing with such a serious matter, the Dean mulled it over. “I’ll talk with the rest of the Association. In fact, I’ll do it right now. Feel free to walk around the campus and we will call you when we have reached a decision.” Both guests took that as a sign, and rose to leave. “Actually, Evelyn, the board will need to speak with you, now that you are a part of this.” She had volunteered with no problems. This left Samuel to exit by himself.

As he left the office, he signalled his apprentice to follow him and started down the hallway. “Let’s get something to eat. Then we can talk.”

***

Back in the room, Evelyn gestured over her shoulder. “Think he will say yes?” They spoke over a cup of tea. “Well, actually, more like: Think the board will say yes?”

The Dean let out a big sigh. “Sure they will, both of them. That old pyromancer knows we are good for the money, and I’m sure he can come out of it alive. The board knows how little time we have; they will grant his request and he will surely call up some colorful people.” Taking a good long sip of his tea, he looked at Evelyn closely. “Which means we need somebody we can trust inside our faction.” His words resonated with her. “Professor Faraday has strict instructions to stay with the Grail no matter the cost. Your goal will be to keep an eye on the rest of the Masters, tell us what they’re planning, and if anyone seems untrustworthy.” He noticed doubt beginning to settle on the girl’s face, and ever a bit of fear. It was a lot to dump on this student all at once, and he knew it. “Evelyn, we chose you for this specific task for a reason, and it wasn’t just because you can make it out alive. It is no lie that all the Magic Association trusts you with this matter.” With that said, he felt he needed to add this next part. “But you have no obligation to help us, or take part in this fight.”

She had a lot to think about. Why do magi fight for this Grail to begin with? With everything the other students say, surviving the war would give her bragging rights for life. Winning would mean her wishes would become reality. “I’ll do it.” Did any of those reasons matter when she answered? No; what mattered to her was something the Dean had said before.

In truth, Evelyn wasn’t the best student in the tower. In the top ten? Certainly, but when it came to real skill and power there had to be better choices than she. Nonetheless, they picked her. The most respected and wisest magi of the Association saw in her something that the rest of the students didn’t have. It stood to reason that she can do something that no one else could. 

“In that case,” Smiling at the girl’s response, the dean pulled something else out from the drawer of his desk. “To summon a Servant, one needs a catalyst. And this here is amongst the rarest relics we have at our disposal.” He took out a small wooden box and invited the girl to open it. Inside rested a broken sword with a golden pommel. The grip indicated this sword was to be used with one hand and the broken blade of steel was rusted all around. “The famous sword from the Father of Europe himself, Charlemagne.”

Yet another sign of how much the association trusted her with this task. “Surely this will grant us victory!” She accepted the box gracefully, closing it. She decided that nothing would separate the two from there on. As she looked up, the Dean received a call from the board. They had reached a decision.

***

They changed from the office to a big meeting room, where they would be able to make a plan of attack. Attending the meeting were members of the board and some representatives of the Holy Church. Obviously, Evelyn and Samuel were both there, but also Kaito found himself being called to attend by his teacher, and nobody asked him to step out. The board had accepted the requests made by Samuel, and he already had a shortlist of magi that he wanted for this war; while the Association got in contact with them, the rest of the room was left to piece together a strategy. They called on their resources from all over America, listing places where they would need to stop and mapping different routes to avoid detection. At the end of it, they had four days before they needed to meet up with the convoy escorting the Grail on the coast. Now it was just a matter of summoning the Servants.

Once all that was done, the three magi worked fast to pack up all their things (easier for some than others), and met up at the Whitechapel district that night. Samuel guiding the group, they quickly found themselves in a dark alley devoid of people. Such an unsettling atmosphere prompted Evelyn to ask “Could you tell me again why we are here? No respected magus in London will find himself around here.”

Smiling at the question, Samuel answered. “That’s precisely the point, kid. A great magus  _ is _ hiding here, but she is anything but respected. Don’t tell her I said that.”

As she looked to her other companion for clarity, he raised his arms in submission. “Don’t look at me. All he told me was that this was an important stop before we left.” While this was true, Kaito was more than used to his master keeping a few secrets on lockdown. “But he knows his fair share of people, so don’t worry too much about it.” 

After the group rounded the corner, the alley lit up thanks to several purple-tinted windows. They could see a couple men knocking on one of the doors and being questioned before entering.

They approached the same door and the guard opened the door viewer to greet them. With Samuel in front of them they could hear “What’s the pass-... Oh, it’s you.” The guard opened the metal door and the group entered. As soon as the teenagers passed through the door frame, they could sense magic in the building; a magic barrier, most likely to keep tabs on the people within.

As they entered, the first thing they noticed, aside from the magic energy, was how elegant the whole place was. It was decorated in a Victorian style, with crystal candelabras hanging from the ceiling and fine Persian rugs resting on the floor. The wooden furniture and intricate textures followed the walls all the way inside. Even the guard had a good chair to sit in while he waited for guests, and next to the lobby was a separate room, likely to keep coats and bags, with a female attendant there to receive them.

“Hey! No minors allowed.” Speaking of the guard, a bulky, dark-skinned man, pointed at the two teenagers once they were all inside the entrance hall.

In response to the guard’s protest, Samuel put a hand on the man’s shoulder. “We are here to see your boss.” The guard and Samuel locked eyes. “Believe me: she wants what I’m selling.”

The coat checker spoke up from behind a counter. “She already knows he is here. He is to go up alone and his two companions must wait at the bar.” She stood up to escort them to the next room.

The smell of incense and tobacco hit them hard and the teenagers took a few seconds to realize what kind of place this was. Several gentlemen, if they could be that, sat on comfy chairs around coffee tables, sipping drinks and smoking. On the other side of the room, they played cards at several larger tables. What really stood out, though, were the girls. All of them were young and pretty, wearing fine dresses while they passed drinks around to guests and sat with them, laughing as they spoke.

Evelyn realized they were at a brothel, and blushed a deep red. “H-Hey! What’s the big idea, bringing us here?!” The girl couldn’t contain her embarrassment, her little outburst drawing some attention to them.

Blushing equally hard, especially at the smiles he was receiving from some of the girls, Kaito also spoke. “Y-Yeah, old man, we could have met up with your friend some other place.”

But Samuel was too busy caught up in nostalgia. “This place never changes, does it?” He looked at Evelyn. “To answer your question, we are pulling double duty here. This will be a meet up with one of the Masters. But also…” The magus threw his arm around his pupil, holding the young man in a choke hold. “I couldn’t bear it if my dear student were to die in this war a virgin.” He tightened up the grip so Kaito couldn’t escape. “It’s one thing asking him to fight for me in this war. It’s entirely another letting him go without ever having the experience and pleasure of a good-”

Finally, having enough, his pupil punched him hard in between the ribs and managed to free himself, still blushing in humiliation. “What the hell are you talking about?! Don’t go around saying stuff like…” Just then, something important hit him. “Wait, you want me to fight with you?”

Putting on a genuine look, Samuel raised his finger and stated “You are on my list of magi that I handed to the Association. Feel free to think about it while I’m working upstairs.” On that note, the adult left them alone, with the coat woman escorting him upstairs, and another girl taking them to the bar and ordering tea for both of them.

***

Samuel arrived upstairs, still smiling at that little spectacle he pulled downstairs, and entered a dimly lit room with a kitchen to the side and several shelves with magic ingredients to the other. In the back of the room, a voice could be heard. “I’m brewing.” Taking some steps past the kitchen and the shelves, Samuel found a woman standing in front of a chemical set, and indeed, it looked like she was brewing something. “I have to let it chill for awhile. Give me a second.” The woman turned the burner off and the two of them sat at a table closer to the light, so they could speak.

The woman took a quick look at the old man and said, in the biggest sneering tone she could muster, “You’re balding.”

Bluntly, Samuel answered back. “And your tits are all saggy. Time makes a fool of us all.” The woman in front of him was clearly a mature one, but nothing about her said old. Her appearance was well kept; no wrinkles could be seen in her face or neck, nor a single grey hair in her long black mane. Her skin had a darker, olive tone compared to the girls downstairs. She wore a one piece dark purple dress, showing prominent cleavage, a pair of high boots, and long gloves the same color as her dress. All in all, Samuel smiled. “It’s good to see you, Roberta.”

The woman let out a small sigh. “I figure you’re here about that work from the Magic Association?” They had passed the message to her earlier but she ignored it at the time. “Seeing you here answers why I was considered for it in the first place, at least.”

Samuel knew they hadn’t told her everything, and thought it would be better she heard it from him anyway. “That’s right, I’ll tell you what you need to know.” It was a brief talk to touch all the important points, but he still kept some information hidden. Not that he didn’t trust his old friend, but it was a matter of having something to offer later on. “So what do you say? We could really use someone with your skills on our side.”

The madam still had a lot of questions about the work, but first things first. “This organization, what was it called?”

Without missing a beat, Samuel responded. “Vox Nihili.”

Looking pensive, she repeated the name. “The Voice of Nothing. What do you know about them?” Between the two of them, she knew Samuel had more field experience.

He only shrugged in reply. “Nothing before today. The only thing we have are the accounts of those who fought against them in Fuyuki. All their soldiers were real magi, not homunculi or golems or anything like that. None of them could be identified but the tactics made it obvious they were a coordinated group.”

“More like fanatics, in my opinion. Why don’t you let the Association handle it themselves? You don’t need to risk your life for them.” She spoke out of real worry for his well being. Or at least, that’s what Samuel hoped.

The old magus leaned in and spoke his real worry. “Between you and me, I’m sure whoever is behind this group has some pull from inside the Association. There are a lot of red flags popping up everywhere.” When this didn’t erase the worried look on Roberta’s face, he continued. “I haven’t told you about the reward though.” Samuel pulled out a white envelope from inside his coat. “It’s been awhile since the Association banned you from leaving the county. If you agree to become one of our Masters, your front payment will be having your record erased. Once you come back, it’s standard payment for work like this.”

Roberta leaned back, clearly surprised. “Well, ain’t that a generous offer.” She then went on with a smug tone. “However, they would have to offer me that if they wanted me to fight all the way in America. More importantly, none of that really matters anyway if I die in this war.” She thought it was a tempting offer, but too risky, this time.

Samuel sighed, then provided a new condition. “Alright. Do it for me.”

This, again, took Roberta by surprise. The woman spoke after composing herself. “Sam, we haven’t done anything for each other in years.”

“Yeah, but…” He looked more nervous than desperate now. “I promise we’ll make it back alive. It’s not only you that I’m putting at risk, you have my word that I won’t let anything happen while we are out there.”

She again let out a long sigh. Her old friend has broken promises before; that wasn’t the issue. Dropping in without warning to ask something like this of her? “Don’t you have someone better to call? I haven’t seen real combat since the Association burned me.” All this time home had given her the chance to perfect her potions, but she still felt unprepared.

“This isn’t much a matter of skill but of trust. I called the old shaman and the monks from the Jingtu Temple. Then it’s you, me, and my pupil. That boy doesn’t have much field experience but he is strong-willed, and I wouldn’t have picked him if he wasn’t up to the task. Same goes for you.” He could slowly see the idea taking roots in his friend’s mind; she just needed a little push. “The girl that came with us, Evelyn. I can’t speak for her, but the Association trusts her enough.” That trust still baffled him, but nobody, especially not Roberta, needed to know that right now.

There was only one thing she needed to make sure of before accepting. “What’s your plan, anyway? Parade the Grail all over America until the enemy gets tired of pursuing?”

Crossing his arms, he nestled into the chair comfortably, smiling smugly. “That, dear, is the Association’s secret combat plan. Can’t go divulging our strategy to an outsider.”

That put a smile on Roberta’s face. Okay, she thought; she would play his game. “Alright then, I’m in. Now tell me about this strategy and what you are planning to do about our Servants.”

********

While the two old friends discussed the plans, Evelyn sat at the bar, trying to ignore the atmosphere by making idle conversation with this Kaito. “Are you really going through with this? Fighting in this war is no joke.” They were both the same age and she had no doubt that he must be nervous thinking about the idea of fighting like she was.

Trying to ignore all the unwanted attention, Kaito answered. “Sure am. To be honest, I’m not sure why I was so surprised that he’d pick me.”

Evelyn was aghast. “You can’t be serious about this! You should be angry that your master volunteered you to fight without even asking you first.” At least she had gotten two real chances to back down from this.

Kaito knew why she reacted this way, but he also knew that something like this wasn’t normal for her. “Maybe someone else would be angry, but this is fairly normal for us. My sensei took me in when I was little and he’s been teaching me magic ever since.” He took on a long gaze, as if immersed in his own thoughts. “But only recently did he allow me to go with him to his works, in the last year or so. When we finished our first contract together, he told me that he would never have brought me along if he wasn’t sure I could handle it.”

Evelyn looked distraught at his answer, and tried to dig deeper into the matter. She wanted something; anything to give her some more insight. “You still can back down. It’s not like he’s pushing you to do this.” Well, to her it seemed like that, and that still didn’t sit right with her.

“I’m pushing myself here. It’s kinda stupid when you think about it.” He smiled at recognizing his own feelings and being able to put them into words. “This is the first time my sensei has given me an option; that he has let me decline on a fight. That alone should tell you why I can’t back down from this.”

Evelyn sighed. It really didn’t. In fact, his answer only brought more questions to her mind, but it did also give her some insight. She didn’t want to accept it at first, but this was the kind of person they needed for this war. The do-or-die mentality Kaito exhibited spoke volumes about his upbringing and his master’s attitude toward him. She reached down into her bag and held the catalyst, still inside the wooden box, just to give her some peace of mind. Even though she had more to say, their conversation was cut short when one of the waitresses came to them to escort them upstairs.

***

Roberta had heard the plan crafted by the Association; now she needed only to clear any lingering doubt. “So, we divide into two groups, one to escort the Grail all the way to England after it lands while the other deals with the enemy.” She took a big sip of her drink before continuing. “Well, now I know why you need every kind of help you could get. This is the strategy you’re going with?” That made the two of them laugh. “Not to mention how dubious it all sounds. I mean, if your theory about a mole being inside the Association is correct, it’s only a matter of them getting the route we are taking and we are done for.”

With Samuel finishing his drink, he stood up to pour another one and answered back. “Believe it or not, I’m counting on it. That’s where the Servants come in, and we will be gathering the best for this fight.” He was hoping to avoid direct fighting as much as possible, but he also had to be ready when that wasn’t an option. They heard the door opening behind them. “And speaking of Servants, these two are going to partake in the war.” He approached the two teenagers. “This boy here is my pupil, Kaito: not good with the theory but has been practicing all his life for this. The girl is Evelyn; the Association roped her up in this, but they say she can handle herself.” Roberta waved and smiled at them but didn’t stand up from the couch. Samuel walked behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “This here is my old childhood friend, Roberta Vasquez.” He signaled them to sit down and he did the same. “Now, Evelyn, show us the catalyst.” 

The girl looked back dumbfounded. No one ever mentioned she had it during the meeting, and she was sure it didn’t slip up by accident.

“Don’t stall it. We need to know what we have to work with.” The way he saw it, they were supposed to be a team, after all.

Reluctantly, Evelyn placed the wooden box on the table and opened it up for all of them to see. “The Dean told me this is Joyeuse, Charlemagne’s sword.”

Only looking, not touching, Roberta commented, mildly interested. “I thought the real one was in a museum in Paris. That is sure to call a powerful Servant.” She turned to her friend, sitting by her side. “What do you have for us?”

“Honestly, we don’t have more catalysts for the three of us. But, if everything goes according to plan, our Caster and Rider will be ready by this time tomorrow. Archer and his Master are already on their way to America. Lancer will go to Kai, and I’ll take Assassin, leaving Roberta with Berserker.” While he received odd looks from everyone, he didn’t wait for questions. “That’s it for today. Tomorrow we will summon our Servants and make way to America. Can you give us a room for the night?”

Roberta sighed again; she had been prepared to accept these kinds of things from her old friend. “Fine. We have an extra room the two of them could share, but you stay here. And  _ don’t _ talk with my girls.”

“Alright, go to the car and bring our bags.” He tossed the keys to his student. “Check if we have everything we need. Tomorrow will also be shopping day.”

With glorious plans set and serious pacts made, the four Masters slept in a brothel in London.

***

That very night, in America, a group of people gathered at one specific rock formation. They made a fire pit in the middle of the place and some of them began dancing around it. In front of the fire, inscribed in the ground, a huge summoning circle could be seen. After some ceremonial chanting and dancing, a huge flash of light appeared from the circle, blinding everyone around. Once the light a smoke cleared, a figure atop a horse stood in the middle of the circle. A young man, Native American in origin with long black hair, rode on top a brown horse with white legs. HIs vestments were a pair of hide pants and a red robe covering his upper body. He looked around the group, taking them all in before asking. “Which one of you is my Master.”

An old man, almost reaching eighty, walked in front of the group. The man, Native American too, kept his long almost white hair in braids and wore a black leather jacket with equally black pants, a white dress shirt, and a pair of brown slip-in shoes. Walking straight, and holding his right hand in front of his chest to show his Command Seals, he approached the Servant. With the light of the fire shining on his face, the two men were able to see each other eye to eye. “My name is Red Harvest, and I’m your Master.”

The Servant wasted no time. “I’m of the Rider class, here to fight in this Grail War.”

“And tell me, what is your true name?” They had gone to this specific location for this specific Servant. He needed to be sure.

“I’m most well known as War Chief Crazy Horse.” Rider noticed a smile forming on his Master’s face and then looked to the people that stood alongside him. All of them were of Lakota descent and were more than happy to see him.

***

It quickly became morning, and the London party had awoken. It was an awkward morning for the teenagers, having shared the room the previous night, but it was better than the morning the adults had had; the couple spent all night chatting and catching up after years of being away. With their departure delayed a little later than planned, the group went around the city making sure they had everything for the trip. Be it ingredients to work their magic or weapons, or just basic supplies, they had to be sure not to fall short while fighting in the war.

By noon, the group was ready to summon their first Servant. They had gone back to the brothel and made preparations. The teenagers, or rather, Kaito (Evelyn was just tagging along) were sent upstairs to bring one of Samuel’s bags. After finding the right one, the girl spoke up. “Listen, clothes and magic equipment I get, but why does your master need so many books?” There were so many that the bag ended up being heavier than the one carrying his equipment.

Having bottled up his annoyance for a while now, Kaito finally vented. “Don’t ask me! I’m as dumbfounded as you.” The two of them were heading down to the cellar, where the summoning would take place. “But every time we move and anywhere we go, that old man makes me carry this huge bag of books. He is always saying how they save him from boredom but I cannot fathom how he manages to get bored with work.” He wanted one last punctuation before his anger subsided. “Honestly, if they are  _ so _ important to him, he should be the one carrying this sack of crap.”

The little rant had given Evelyn a little laughing fit. “I didn’t take him for an avid reader. Have you read any yourself?” She could see some classics amongst the titles, next some new novels.

“Not all of them, just the new ones. They are comforting during sleepless nights, I’ll say that much.” They were also the only kind of entertainment he could get his hands on ever since his master took him on the road. “I prefer TV, to be honest.”

Still smiling, Evelyn responded. “I like reading to entertain myself, but I stick to magic texts. Practicing my magic helps me calm down too.”

Before Kaito could ask further, he was interrupted by his master. They were in the cellar and the circle was already drawn on the floor. “Finally. Pass the bag, boy.” Kaito did as instructed and handed the bag over. Samuel rummaged about inside and pulled out a specific book. “Here it is!”

Robert took a quick glimpse at the title of the book and reacted loudly. “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me!” She could only laugh at her friend’s ridiculousness. “Are you really that big of a fanboy?”

Samuel stepped forward to avoid the teenagers from seeing the book. “We need a good Assassin for this, not only for fighting but for intel gathering.” Although this wasn’t much more than wish fulfilment at the moment, it was better than nothing. He had no real catalyst and little time to come up with another plan. “Now, take a step back. Let me begin.” With book in hand, Samuel began the summoning. Theoretically, the ritual was easy enough; without a proper catalyst, though, it was up to chance if anything would happen. Working his magic, the reaction happened fast and a bright light exploded from the circle, blinding the four of them. To their surprise, at the end of it there was nothing new in the room after the flash settled. They all looked around, trying to find some kind of sign that it had worked, but to no avail. Samuel let out a big sigh and accepted defeat. “I’ll try it again later, but we need to move on.”

As they made for the door back upstairs, Kaito noticed something important. “Sensei, look at your hand!” 

Samuel was carrying the book in his right hand, so he didn’t notice it himself at first. He had the markings of his own Command Seals. So the ritual had been successful, but where was his Servant? The group stepped upstairs and started to hear the girls giggling by the bar. It was way too early for clients to start showing up; as they followed the laughter, they could see several girls talking to someone standing behind the bar. The one chatting with the girls was a tall, caucasian man with short black hair. A little advanced in age but with a smile full of pearly white teeth. Once separated from the girls, the group noticed he was wearing a tuxedo.

It was Samuel that first spoke, as he and the mystery man shook hands. “So, either a movie superstar just walked into this brothel, or my summon was successful, and you are…”

“Assassin, from serving the Crown to following your orders. I like the change of pace.” Not dropping the handshake, Assassin flipped Samuel’s hand to the side and admired his Command Seals. “Loving the eyepatch.”

The duo turned to the rest of the group and Samuel confidently said “We’ve got ourselves an Assassin.” He motioned to his student. “You are next, boy. We just need to wait for word from the Association and we’ll be on our way.”

This was true; they needed to wait for an update about the other Masters outside of England. In the meantime, they could spend the rest of the afternoon in the brothel doing mostly nothing but talking amongst themselves. 

Samuel and Assassin spent most of that time chatting it up, with Samuel asking many questions about his Servant’s life, and Assassin eagerly answering. They kept at it with such fervor that Roberta had to comment on it, finding it amusing to no end. “I just can’t believe it, kids.” While the men spoke at the bar, she sat on the couch alongside the teens. Noticing the confusion in their eyes, she explained. “See that stupid look on his face? I haven’t seen him smile like that since we were little.” It wasn’t as if there was anything wrong with it; it did, however, make Roberta nostalgic. “I remember when we were kids and he used to read those books all the time. Imagine his excitement when they announced his movies at the theater.” She chuckled at the memories. “He would drag me to the cinema and nothing would stop him from sitting in the hall.” The image brought chuckles from all three of them. “To be honest, I’m more of a drama fan. Not that into spy flicks.”

“Well, if you had the chance to meet your idol, I think very few people would pass.” Following up on his curiosity, Kaito asked “How have you known him that long?”

Roberta turned her full attention to the question. “Tell me: has he ever told you about  _ his _ master?” Receiving a puzzled look prompted her to keep talking. “His master, the last Dragon’s Breath, was my mother. She took him in at a young age and gave him her crest later on.”

Without missing a beat, Evelyn interrupted. “Wait, I thought that wasn’t possible.” After receiving some odd looks all around, she explained. “At the Tower they teach a crest can only be passed to someone blood-related.”

“That is outright not true. While it’s certainly easier for it to be transferred if there’s some kind of blood relation, it’s not a requirement. My mom took Samuel in and raised him like she did me, so that made it easier to do it.” Roberta realized then how alien that must be for the girl, so she opted to end it there.

“It’s an interesting tradition that goes with the crest. It’s been passed down from master to student for as long as five generations.” The madam nodded in agreement with Kaito. “How long did it take for him to get the crest, anyway? I want to know how much I still need to wait.” The boy spoke proudly and eagerly, so sure of his inheritance.

Before the woman could answer, someone knocked at the door. It was one of the working girls with a message from the Association. Roberta took the piece of paper from the girl and handed it to Samuel. Nothing could have turned his joyful expression to a frown faster. As he read it thoroughly, he knew conversation time was over. He suddenly realized how late it was. “Alright, everybody, get ready. We need to go out. Assassin, keep an eye out.” With that order, the group were prepared and out in the streets minutes later. On the way to their destination, Samuel explained their predicament. “That message told us two things. One, our contact in America was able to summon Rider; that’s the good news. The bad news is, there was a problem summoning our Caster in China.”

***

It had happened a few hours ago; nighttime for them in London, daytime for the Master in China. A group of monks had started the long hike earlier that morning. Two of the monks were older men, with shaved heads and typical robes. One of them had an old wooden box wrapped in some cloth so he could carry it on his back. A third one, going ahead of them, was a young woman in her twenties wearing the same robes but with long black hair. They had the perfect catalyst to do the summoning and the ideal location to call a great Servant: A large valley hidden in the middle of the mountain, untouched by civilization. This same valley was brimming with magical energy, which they could feel as soon as they arrived; once the circle was ready, the monk handed the box to the girl. Even though she accepted it, the younger monk hesitated. “I still believe one of you should do the ritual.”

An older monk smiled at her worries, trying to alleviate them. “The nature of this Servant is more compatible with your style.” They were aiming for a Caster who would be a great teammate for a physical fighter like the student.

Still with some doubts in her mind, the young monk bowed to her elders and opened the box. “Thank you for trusting me with the old texts.” More like ancient, she thought; they had been in their temple for safe keeping for centuries. They placed themselves in position and the woman began the chant. Again, bright light and smoke appeared. Once it cleared, there was no sign of anyone else with them. The monks soon enough would understand. Indeed, there was no one in front of them, but once they looked up at the nearby mountain peak, a figure could be seen staring at the sky. That figure soon screamed at the heavens with all its might, the monks able to hear it all the way at the foot of the mountain. Surely even the closest village could hear it.

***

“In short, they summoned Lancer instead of Caster. Don’t worry; we will deal with that later.” It was a fast trip to their next stop. “Right now, we need to finish our business here and leave town.” They still had to make a stop in France after this.

They soon arrived at a warehouse building next to an alley. The place was already closed for the night, so they had free reign over the area, for the moment. While they were taking the materials for the ritual out of the car, Evelyn felt the need to speak up. “Why can’t we do the ritual at the brothel again? This place doesn’t have any kind of magical energy.” She showed concern as her companions cut the chains around the door, looking around for guards.

Samuel answered, still confident in his plan. “Girl, you’re standing on the biggest catalyst in this war.” He opened up a bag with some liquids and handed them to his student. “Draw the symbols while Roberta and I make the circle.” This left Evelyn to watch over the entrance and listen to his explanation. “This place is where Jack the Ripper’s last known victim was found. It was by far his most violent killing and his most famous.” So he planned to use the old crime scene as a catalyst to summon the most famous murderer in history? It was a clever plan.

But cleverness wasn’t what piqued Roberta’s interest, or what made her concerned. “And you want to put a famous prostitute killer in  _ my _ care?” She wasn’t even mentioning the class they wanted to summon him in.

“Figure you would have more experience taking care of him. Womanly charm aside, you have potions, soothing magic, special incense… you know what I’m talking about.” It was obvious To Samuel that she wasn’t convinced. “You captured more bounties and fugitives alive that anyone else ever did. That’s pure skill on your part.”

She took a few seconds to think about these points before taking the ingredients away from him. “In that case, I can take care of this on my own. This needs to be done right.” Ideas were already brewing inside her head. There needed to be some changes in the ritual if she wanted to control the Ripper during this war. They did their work under the cover of darkness and soon enough, the markings were ready for the ritual. Apart from the summoning circle, drawn with special ingredients, the walls were covered with some extra markings to give power to the circle itself. With the coast clear, and everything ready. Roberta began the ritual. 

Once the dust settled and their eyes adjusted to the bright light, the only thing they could see was a little bump sitting on the ground, and it was now so dark they couldn’t see it very well. This being her ritual, Roberta stepped forward to meet that mystery figure. She kneeled down to get a closer look, and after a few moments, spoke. “Sam, give me your coat.” Weirded out by that request, the man didn’t move. The woman stretched her arm out and said once more, this time with a firmer tone. “The coat, please.” Once she had it in her hands, the figure in front of her stood up and she was able to cover it up with the coat, from top to bottom.

From her side of the room they all could hear “Mom!” Following that, they could hear Roberta chuckling. The woman brought the figure forward and they all could see her companion under better illumination. It was a kid, no more than ten years old, with ghostly white skin. The boy’s hair was also white and he wore nothing but that coat, many sizes too big for him.

Roberta once again brought herself down to his level and asked “And who are you?”

With a beaming grin on his face, the boy threw his arms in the air and, as the coat dropped, said “Berserker! Jack the Ripper!” 

No one said anything else. They couldn’t find the words. They just cleaned the whole place up and left. It was obvious that Samuel was agitated by this turn of events, which was why he had Kaito drive the car. The problem though was this left him sitting in the back with Roberta and Berserker. The smile never left the kid’s face and Samuel only grew more irritated. This wasn’t helped by how happy Roberta looked having her Servant sit on her lap all the way back.

Once they were back at the brothel, she took Berserker by the hand and started leading him upstairs. “Let’s go upstairs. I don’t have any clothes that could fit you, but I’m sure…”

“You two are not going anywhere!” Samuel interrupted them; it seemed Roberta didn’t know how serious this was. “We still need to talk about... this.” He gestured at Berserker, receiving an angry scowl in response. It was pretty admirable how he could match such a scowl with only one eye.

Roberta knew well enough that this wasn’t going to be pretty. Not at all. “Kids, take Berserker to my room. Find him something to wear while we buy him new clothes.” Willing to escape the heavy atmosphere that had suddenly fallen on the room, the teenagers took the new Servant by the hands and went upstairs.

As the two older magi moved to the cellar to have their talk, Samuel got right into it. “What the hell was that shit!”

She was no stranger to arguing with him. “That’s exactly what you wanted! He is our Berserker and you won’t call him that!”

“You know what I’m talking about. What did you do with the ritual that you ended up with a useless Servant like that?!”

“The only changes I made were so I could control him better like  _ you _ wanted. Other than that? Maybe you should have thought this through instead of taking ideas from your stupid movies!”

Samuel raised a single finger; a sign for them to calm down. “We can’t bring him to this fight, and you know that. We are going to have to summon another…”

That signal also helped Roberta calm down and speak clearly. “Oh, give him a break. Want it or not, he is Jack the Ripper. He called me mom, Sam. You wanted him calm and docile from the beginning.”

Samuel had to hand it to her: as surprising as this was, he couldn’t deny that it was a sign he could be controlled. Still, it was obvious she didn’t think about any of that at first sight. “What about you? Known him for less than an hour and he’s already touching your motherly side.”

The woman stared back at him, not with anger but seriousness on her face. “Where was  _ your _ Servant during all of that?” She asked, but she already had an idea.

Samuel rubbed his temples and spoke. “Assassin.” The Servant in question appeared by his side, taking physical form at his Master’s command. “Did you notice anything unusual while we were out?”

“Nothing. No scout, spy, or Servant was ever close to your vicinity.” This filled both Masters with some sense of security. “And that kid sure is something, if I say so myself.” Assassin was able to read the room and knew this team couldn’t fight over things like this. “So, can I proceed with the plan?”

Getting an expectant look from his friend, Samuel knew he needed to explain further. “We need to be on a plane to France first thing tomorrow, but I’m sending Assassin to buy the tickets as a precaution. Then we take the Association’s private plane from France to America.” Changing rides midway, he thought, was a typical tactic to confuse their enemies.

It was a good plan, Roberta agreed. Assassin hadn’t been seen outside of the brothel, so he wouldn’t raise suspicions like the rest of them. “Alright, but we go after twelve.” After receiving a strange look from her friend, she sighed. “We need to buy some clothes for Berserker.” And she walked away before either of them could say anything else.

Still frustrated by her attitude, the ritual, and everything in general, Samuel looked at his Servant and said “Looks like we are a big, happy family now.” At least the comment won him a laugh from Assassin. “You have your task, get to it.” With Assassin gone, Samuel was truly alone. He tried to calm down before going upstairs. 

***

The old magus went upstairs and entered the teenager’s room. By now they had come back from helping Berserker find some temporary clothes. “Hey, sensei, here’s your coat back.” Kaito handed back the one they had used to cover the child.

Samuel took his coat and put it on a chair to his side, then sat down on it. “Evelyn, take your bags. You’re staying with Roberta tonight.” He decided it was better to give her some space after the fight and he didn’t mind sharing the bed with his student.

“Did something happen?”The girl asked, instead of taking her bags.

The old magus scratched the back of his head. “That’s just normal for us. We may have our disagreements from time to time, but nothing will ever break us apart.” Even after years separated, they could always trust in the other; he had no doubt about it. Samuel then leaned in and spoke to both teenagers. “Same goes for you two. We all need to trust each other if we want to make it out of this alive. Should be easy for you two,having already slept together and all.” He tried not to laugh at their faces blushing and Evelyn’s fast walk out of the room. Soon the entertainment wore thin, and he turned to his student. “Been keeping up with your training?”

From out of his pocket, Kaito took a flip lighter and ignited it. He used his free hand to take the flame and hold it in the air. “Gets easier every day.” The flame grew bigger in his palm. “Think I'm ready for the next step?”

Hearing this question, Samuel stood and walked towards him. With just a flick of his fingers, Samuel had his own flame appearing over his fingers. Fire created straight from the magus’ mana; no outside source. “Follow my lead.” was the only instruction he gave Kaito. The fire grew bigger and rolled around his arm, leaving the sleeve of his shirt intact. His student was also wearing long sleeves, and his teacher was eager to see if he could keep the fire from burning his clothes. Kaito struggled to, and after some trouble in making the fire cover his arm, the student still couldn’t contain the fire like he wanted. To top it off, his Master douses Kaito’s fire before he could truly lose control. “You need to truly control the fire before setting your own mana ablaze.” He closed the lighter. “Fire born from a magus’s mana can’t be controlled that easily. Keep practicing. You’ll get it right one day.” With that said, Samuel stepped out to get ready for bed. As a student, Kaito wasn’t the brightest; Samuel wouldn’t say he is a bad magus, but he certainly had trouble with the theory.

***

In the master bedroom, the madam was still working on her potions in her pajamas as Evelyn got ready for bed. While the woman poured some liquid into a row of flasks, Evelyn got comfortable. “Shouldn’t you get some sleep too? Tomorrow is a busy day.”

“All of my best ingredients are here, and it’ll be easier to pass them through customs like this.” She couldn’t know for sure if she’d have access to a chemistry set in America, anyway. “Like Jewel Magecraft, I infuse my magic in the ingredients I use in battle.” The flasks were no bigger than a tennis ball and closed with cork and rope so they didn't spill open while they traveled. All of them with different colored liquids inside. “Tell me about your magic, young lady.”

“I practice barrier magic specifically. From all shapes and sizes, made from a variety of materials, and using all kinds of magic symbols.” She declared this in a proud tone. Although a slow kind of magic, it was something she always felt comfortable with. This being her family’s expertise may have something to do with it.

“Sure sounds like it’ll be useful.” Roberta packed her things up and stretched out on her chair. “I’m done for the day. Let’s go to sleep.” Both women looked to their bed, and though still spacious, noticed Berserker sleeping peacefully in it. Roberta spoke. “I can be the one to sleep on the couch.”

Evelyn giggled and brushed it off. “There’s still enough space for all three of us. No problems here.”

That said, all the Masters in the building went to sleep.

***

Assassin would return later that night to get some rest, but not before he had a chat with Berserker. With not much free space, Assassin had been confined to the cellar’s couch to rest up. He couldn’t help but notice, though, Berserker hiding in the shadows as he sat down. “Don’t you need to rest?”

From the shadows, his voice echoed. “I sensed a Servant approaching and didn’t want to wake Mom up.” The boy thought he would be able to deal with the threat and be back to sleep in a few minutes.

They locked eyes for what seemed like an age before they continued. “You shouldn’t lurk in the shadows like that. Someone is likely to get scared.” Either that, he thought, or someone might attack him. Neither way was good.

“Eh, mister, what are you doing here?”

That tone told Assassin what he was talking about. “Well, resting, of course. If you mean what I’m doing in this war, winning the Grail for my Master. Just like you.”

“No...” The child stated, coldly. “My Mom only wants me to protect her. No matter what, that’s what I’m going to do.” With that ominous warning, he vanished, returning to bed.

This left Assassin not knowing what to think. “Goodnight to you too.”

***

According to plan, they work up just after dawn to start their trip. They first made a pitstop to buy children’s clothes, much to Samuel’s chagrin, then headed to the airport. Their next flight once they reached Paris would be mere hours later, so the next summoning would have to be quick. 

Truthfully, they needed only to find a good clearing in the woods to work; they were in France, after all. With one problematic ritual after another, it was understandable that everyone was on edge about the next one.

However, after a quick setup, chant, and some bright lights and smoke, the man of the hour appeared! Samuel looked on, clearly impressed. “The Father of Europe, King Charlemagne.”

Ignoring the old magus who had spoken first, the new Servant spoke directly to his Master. Evelyn stood in front of him, shaking, surprised it worked even after seeing it happen twice before. “My Master. I am Saber. I am ready to carry your will just as I would carry my sword.” He was a young man with black hair, wearing white metal armor, with white garments. He held his sword, Joyeuse, with both hands.

Evelyn proudly turned around to her companions and held her right fist up to show her seals. “Success! We have our Saber!” She received smiles all around. She felt things were off to a good start in this war; her Servant was the strongest one in the group for sure!

While they were all heading back to the car, Evelyn was pulled aside by Samuel. “Should we stop by your parents?” Such a simple question froze the girl in her tracks. “The Dean told me your parents live in Paris. We can stop by if you want to see them.”

This might be the last time she could speak to them. “I’m fine, thank you.” Evelyn put on her most serious expression and moved on. It’s not like she didn’t appreciate the sentiment, but maybe if they didn’t know what she would be involved in these next few weeks it would be for the better. On the other hand,  _ she _ certainly wouldn’t want to find out about this from another person. She would have to think of this on the way to the airport.

As she did just that, she wondered if maybe it was too late to change her mind now that they were inside the airport. Still, Evelyn sat by the phones and asked herself if she should call them. “Saber…” Her Servant was, as always, by her side, dressed in casual clothes to appear human. “Should I tell them what’s going on? What if they get all worried about me? I can’t do that to them.”

Saber understood better than anyone, the love of a parent towards a daughter. “Whatever you want to tell them, or end up telling them, I don’t think you need a reason to speak to your parents. They’ll be happy just hearing from you.” He only provided her with a third option; she need not tell them anything, but she should at least hear their voices before going. “And, if you do end up calling them, tell them you’ll talk to them later.” The last thing she needed was to think about never seeing them again.

The girl bit her lower lip and began tapping her foot nervously.Then she finally stood up, “Wait for me here.” and made her way to the pay phones.

From the other side of the aisle, Samuel observed the girl alongside her Servant. He cocked his head toward his own. “What’s your take on them, Assassin?”

After giving the pair another look, he spoke frankly. “Of our three sets of Servants and Masters, they are our strongest assets.” This was his opinion, at least from what he had seen. “What was truly meticulous, or scrupulous, if I say so myself, was how you handled the whole topic.” His methods could come across as cold, but he couldn’t deny that his Master handled it right. “Waiting for the girl to summon her Servant, then remind her that she should call her parents right when she can no longer back down from all of this.”

It was a weird thing to plan out and the old grizzled magus knew it. Although, it wasn’t for heartless reasons like Assassin suspected. “Well, she  _ is _ the only one with family. It would have been wrong not to give her that option. But she might have changed her mind about partaking in this war.” They couldn’t have that so late into the preparations. “Having Saber to fill her with confidence would keep her from getting cold feet.” In the end, what was Saber but that rusty sword in a box that she carried around like a safety blanket?

Meanwhile, with her call over, Evelyn leaned on the phone booth for several minutes. Indeed, she didn’t tell her parents anything about the Grail War, only that she wouldn’t be in England for some time. It was a normal call all things considered. The worst thing about it all was that it filled her with regret.

There was a hand on her shoulder. “Are you alright, Master?”

She must really be looking distressed if her Servant was taking notice. “Yeah. Thank you, by the way, for being honest.”

He chuckled. “No problem. It’s what I do best. We are together in this.” He offered his hand for a handshake to seal their contract, and Evelyn was happy to take it. They noticed someone calling their attention. “The plane is ready, it appears; we should go.”

As planned, a private jet had been called by the Association itself for their safety. Just after it took off, Samuel handed a pair of handcuffs to his student. “Kaito, here it is: the catalyst for Caster. Keep it safe.”

“Who is it going to be?” Asked the student, inspecting the cuffs with care.

“Don’t want to ruin the surprise.” The two of them had been sitting across the aisle from each other and Samuel stood up to sit by his student’s side. “Listen, I know you wanted to be on the front lines, and I’m sure you would have made it work, but trust me. Caster will be a good fit for you.” They all needed to pull their weight in this war; Kaito was no exception. His student might surprise them as the Master of Caster.

Kaito took a long look at his master. “Thank you for trusting me with watching your back.” The young man couldn’t deny how panicked he felt, with America getting closer and closer, minute by minute, and the chills he felt running down his spine would not cease. “What about Rider and Lancer?”

“They are both on their way to the meeting point.” The boy was looking down at the cuffs and sweating hard. “No news from the enemy, yet. We might hear more once we land.” He stopped. There was no point in saying anything more. His student was growing more nervous by the second and he figured he should do something about it. The man looked back a few rows and saw Roberta and Berserker chatting it up. “Say, have you been getting any weird looks from that kid?” That had gotten his attention. “You know the one, the ‘I’m-going-to-kill-you-while-you-sleep-and-they’ll-never-find-your-body’ kind of look.” That made his pupil laugh. “I swear, he gives me the stink eye every time I talk with Roberta. Worst thing is, I don’t think that woman minds.”

They both had a good laugh at that, calling unwanted attention to themselves. Evelyn heard them from all the way back where she was and moved closer to talk, leaving Saber alone in his seat. “What are you guys talking about?” asked the girl, brightly.

Samuel cut right to the point. “What’s your take on Berserker?”

She needed only a second to answer. “I think he’s cute, but he doesn’t talk much.” Samuel shook his head. So it  _ was _ only him getting the stink eye. Evelyn continued on. “Where’s Assassin?”

“Probably raiding the bar.” His Master got up and gestured to the back of the plane. “Maybe I’ll go and join him. I’ll even ask Roberta and her spawn if they want something.” Of course, he forgot to ask the teenagers, but they didn’t mind.

With his master gone, Kaito finally felt free to ask “Hey, Eve, how are you and Saber doing?” They had known each other for only hours, at best, yet he felt they already knew everything about each other. It didn’t take long for him to ask again, rephrasing to ask what he really meant to ask. “I mean, how did it feel when you were summoning him?”

Not wanting to dismiss either question, Evelyn thought before answering. “It was weird, at first. But to be honest, it’s been blown out of proportions. The ritual is so simple, even a novice could do it. Kinda let me down in the end.” This was only part of it, however. “When you do it, try and keep a calm mind, focused on why you are doing all of this. It worked for me.” With Kaito staring into a non-existent distance, clearly thinking hard on what she said, she moved on to the next question. “And Saber, well, he reminds me of a butler. He is proper, polite, elegant, and barely drops that serious look on his face.” In other words, the perfect match for her. “What do you have in mind for yours?”

Kaito showed her the cuffs he was carrying, frowning in confusion. “This is my catalyst, a pair of old handcuffs that I didn’t choose. And I’m going to summon a Servant whose name I don’t even know. I think I need to take some control of my situation for the good of us all.” The two of them spoke a little while more before Evelyn went back to her seat leaving Kaito the rest of their flight to come up with a plan for his ritual.

***

The group arrived in Florida for a quick refuel before continuing. They didn’t have time to find a nice spot for the last ritual; it was the same hangar their plane was being refueled in where Kaito stepped forward to do his work. 

Surprisingly, he opted out of the normal ingredients the others had used to draw their circles. He had decided that his way would be better. “Alright then. Step back, please.” After his audience did that, the young magus focused on the tip of his fingers; he would need to channel enough mana through them to light his fire. While it took a few seconds longer than it should, he was able to conjure it on his own. His master, recalling the night before, smiled. Maybe Kaito wasn’t the best when it came to theory, but if provided with a practical example, the boy could work wonders.

With that ready, he pictured the circle in his mind and threw his fireball onto the ground, creating the summoning circle out of his fire. With that done, Kaito began the chant, not knowing how much longer the fire would sustain.

***

In the same continent, another pair, Master and Servant, were making their way to the meeting point. “Master, where are we going?” Rider asked as he looked out the window of their train, admiring the scenery.

His Master, Red Harvest, spoke in between bites of his lunch. ”A town down south called Houston. There, we wait for the Grail to come to us.”

Without dropping his stoic expression, Rider asked further “Do you expect an attack on our way there?”

The old man laughed, and almost choked on his food, before answering. “That’s why we are taking the train and then the bus. It’s so low key they won’t even notice us. And if they do end up attacking, we can always retreat to the wilderness.”

***

Meanwhile, outside the continent, in China. “Hey, Xiang, do we  _ really _ need this thing to take us to the new continent?” spoke a young woman with a mane of hair so large it could not be contained in braids and so blonde it was almost white.

Her Master, the young monk from the summoning, now wore a one piece red qipao and had her long hair in one large braid. “If we want to make it to America without raising suspicions, yes.” She had several nitpicks to add. “And you’ll call me Master. Also, cover yourself up!”

It wasn’t that the outfit the Servant was wearing was revealing of any sexual manner. She wore a set of typical western pants with an open coat revealing a yellow t-shirt. What really mattered to her Master was what they were trying to hide. Lancer looked back indignantly. “Oi, Xiang, you can’t ask me to hide the pride and joy that is my tail, not even with a hundred command seals.” Indeed, from out the back of her pants and under the coat a long, blonde-colored tail was sticking out.

Xiang rolled her eyes at her Servant’s stubbornness. “Lancer, I’m not asking you. I’m telling you to do it before people notice.” They were now inside the bathroom of the airport where nobody else could hear them argue, for now. “We either do this right or we go home; no third option.” The girls locked gazes, neither of them willing to back down.

“I’m just saying, I could take us in an instant. Just a stroll through the clouds. Hell, if you don’t want to come I could leap right in the middle of the battle and win this war.” Her Master’s expression didn’t change, not helped by Lancer’s smug tone. With Xiang staying like that, deciding to make the atmosphere as uncomfortable as possible. “So, tell me, what’s the plan once we are there?” She was trying to change the subject, but her Master did not respond. It seemed she wouldn’t let this go. “Alright!” Lancer wrapped her tail around her waist and closed the coat to hide it.

The young monk quickly eased up. With that dealt with they could proceed to their plane. “This plane will take us to California and it’s up to us to make way to the meeting point in a town called Houston.” An easy enough plan, at least according to the Association. The only thing she could complain about is that Lancer needed to be in physical form all the way there, and she hated herself for insisting on it. The Servant needed to know all about this new land to be prepared for battle; to sense it with her own body. “The Grail will meet us there and it’s our task to escort it.”

Lancer only grew more bored with that explanation. “Ugh, why can’t we go against the enemy directly. Search and destroy. Leave no one standing.” She was so obviously eager to fight.

“This may be a Grail War, but make no mistake: we don’t need to fight in order to win.” They just needed to survive the war; that’s all. It would be a little drawn out, as far as tactics go, but it was the one they had.

Now annoyed, Lancer pouted. “Whatever you say. I hope they at least give us something to eat on this journey.” She pointed at the plane she could see through the window.

***

With the Masters and their Servants already on their way to the rendezvous, Kaito and his group needed to finish their business and move on. Unfortunately, that would take a while longer than they expected, now that they took a look at Caster. Using the smokescreen that formed as the ritual ended, at first only a voice could be heard. “Yes! As you all live and breathe!” The owner of the voice with one swift move of an arm cleared all the smoke. “You’re staring at the one and only Harry Houdini!” Caster posed with arms in the air, as if waiting for the applause to cease, or start, in this case.

It was the new Master that spoke up first. “Are you really Houdini? You look rather… feminine.”

Caster was a middle-aged woman with black curly hair kept at ears length. She was dressed in a white, long-sleeved shirt under a black vest and pants, along with white gloves and black and white shiny shoes. After a mild wilting at the cold reception, Caster took the handcuffs from her Master’s hands and inspected them, with the utmost extravagance and interest. “The Mirror Cuffs! One of the greatest challenges my husband faced in life. I had to rescue him from that one.” The woman threw them over her shoulder and spoke to her Master directly. “Harry Houdini, dear, is a stage name used by my husband and I. I, however, used it in only a more… secretive manner.”

From the back of her audience, one of its members spoke up. “So you’re Bess Houdini?”

Caster stretched her arm at Samuel. “A connoisseur of our work I see. Yes! And don’t you worry, not to disrespect my dearly departed husband, but you got the better end of the deal with me.”

Kaito was stunned. None of them could deny that she was entertaining; all the theatrics and loud reactions she threw around made sure of that. The question of power and skill was still to be proven, but that could just as easily be levelled at the rest of the Servants. “Alright then. I’m Kaito, your Master. Are you ready for this war?” The young magus showed his Command Seals with pride.

“Fighting in this Grail War ought to be the greatest stage in my career.” Caster bowed to her Master. “So, what’s the strategy?”

The boy turned around and asked his teacher. “That’s a good question. Where are we going from here?”

Now that their crew had everything ready for departure, Samuel decided the time was right to share the plan; at least the part he knew of. “We take this plane across the border into Ciudad Juarez. There we receive the Grail, and get ourselves some new orders.” He made sure to say it loud enough for all of them to hear him. All four pairs listened and said nothing, accepting the plan. With the Grail arriving at their destination very soon, the war was closing in. 

And now, none of them could back down.

  
  
  
  
  


_ End of Chapter 1 _


	2. Meeting

In California, a Master and Servant had just exited the airport in San Francisco, known to most as SFO. They were under strict orders to make their way to the meeting point as soon as possible, which meant finding a vehicle posthaste.

Of the pair, the Servant let out a long groan. That flight had exhausted any patience that she had had. “Eh, Master? Isn’t there a faster way to the fight?”

They hadn’t made too much in the way of conversation during the trip, so the Master was quite welcome to any exchange of words. “There is, but we need to be careful about our approach. Not only are we trying to avoid conflict, but we also need to think about innocent bystanders that might be caught in the crossfire. Not even counting that the way we travel will mean different terrain.” Her mind got caught on something she had said. “Although, we really should arrive sooner rather than later…”

She had been trailing on and on, much to Lancer’s chagrin. At this point the Servant was so done with her Master’s yapping. She had basically tuned out everything after ‘avoid conflict’. “Ugh, just pick something and let’s get out of here!” After hearing that, Xiang picked fast; two tickets for the bus. It was a trip with only a few stops, meaning they should make it in time. This choice had not placated Lancer in the slightest, as she had a tantrum in her seat. “This isn’t what I had in mind!”

“Now, Lancer. Keep your voice down. You’ll disturb the rest of the passengers.” Xiang flashed her Servant a huge smile, but that couldn’t conceal the feelings behind it; those of ‘ **don’t do that again** ’. “The bus is the perfect way to pass through inconspicuously.” She then dropped the smile and finished loading the equipment into the overhead compartment. As she sat down beside her Servant, she noticed Lancer was still fuming. “Why do you care how we travel, anyway? You took a pilgrimage that lasted years.” That they had traveled the same distance by plane in a few hours should have impressed her Servant, she thought.

Lancer responded by turning over in her seat in an attempt to get some sleep. “I can’t handle inactivity. Not for a single moment. I only hope we find a good fight soon.” After hearing her Master let out a deep sigh, she turned back around to frown. “How does someone like you deal with such boredom? I would’ve expected someone called ‘The Demon’ to be just as restless right now.”

“One doesn’t get to choose their nicknames. Honestly, I would have thought a  _ king _ would have more patience and manners.” Neither of them spoke further. They had mutually reached the conclusion that they could only stand each other in silence. Luckily, if everything went to plan, they would soon have company. Maybe then they could ask the other Masters and Servants about their own relationships. Assuming, of course, the enemy didn’t get to them first.

***

1984 was a rough time for the whole world. The Cold War had seemingly reignited after the Soviet-Afghan war a few years prior, and for the first time in a few decades, things had started escalating. In Latin America, the people were fighting a whole different war: a war on drugs and the cartels that supplied them. While the meat of the conflict was being fought in South America, Mexico was no stranger to the trafficking of drugs.

This was something Samuel’s main group of Masters and Servants had to keep an eye open for. It wasn’t that they were afraid of confrontation; on the contrary, they were more than prepared. But because they were trying to keep a low profile while in Ciudad Juarez, they had to be at least partially worried by necessity. Truly, unless someone of the opposing faction confronted them, it was better to wait for the Grail in peace and quiet. And while the quiet part was easy, since passing off as a tourist group was easy for them…

The peace part came with more than a few issues. The temperature had reached record highs for October, and Samuel was feeling it, letting out a sound of annoyance. “God damn. The fucking sun is going to kill us all before the enemy has a chance to.” Even dressed in proper attire for the weather, the man himself wasn’t that resilient to the heat. He and his pupil were getting their luggage out of the shuttle.

Watching her friend sweat with such intensity, Roberta couldn’t help but laugh at him. “One would think a pyromancer would be able to handle high temperatures a little better. Why don’t you follow your student’s example?”

The boy in question looked completely comfortable and wasn’t complaining like his teacher. “What can I say? I never had trouble with high heat.” Kaito stretched after taking out the last bag. “Actually, it’s kinda nice today. What do you say we walk around town, Eve?” He looked over to the entrance of the hotel.

The girl was the first one to get out of the shuttle and was currently standing in the doorway. Samuel was bothered by the weather, deeming it too hot and dry, but Evelyn looked close to passing out at the moment. Still, she managed a reply. “Thank you, but I think I’ll stay here until the Grail arrives.” She turned longingly to the inside of the door. She was really only waiting for them to get the luggage; once that was done, she was going into their nice, air conditioned rooms.

With luggage in hand, they all made their way inside. As suspected, the place was nice and chill; a huge upgrade from outside. While the adults took care of the rooms, the teenagers sat in the lobby. Kaito was the first to broach the silence. “So… ever been outside of Europe, Eve?”

The girl was checking her bags to make sure nothing was missing. “No, and such a waste if I’m being honest. This town seems so interesting, if the ride from the airport is anything to go by.”

“I myself have never visited Mexico before, but this is my sensei’s old country, and Miss Roberta’s too. It’ll be nice to see more of it.” Kaito then noticed that she had stopped listening mid-way through his thought and seemed transfixed by the inside of her bags. “Is something wrong?”

“My handbag. I can’t find it. Maybe I left it in the shuttle.” Before Kaito could react, she stood up and raced to the door. “I’ll just be a second, don’t worry.” She saw some taxis and more shuttles parking across the street from the hotel. She figured she would be able to catch up to the one they arrived in.

Evelyn raced outside and looked among the cars. Powering through the heat, she prepared to cross the road, only to be stopped by a man. “Hey, I was on my way to bring this to you.” He presented her with the handbag she had misplaced. This wasn’t their driver; he was much too young.

“Thank you!” This man was about her own height, and lean. His hair was red, curly and messy all around. He wore a dark colored hat and had a coat tied around his waist, and with this heat it was a no brainer as to why. A bright red t-shirt covered his chest, and brown pants adorned his legs, with leather gloves covering his hands.

“Don’t worry, your driver gave me your description and told me to head over. Glad I didn’t have to run too far.” With a chuckle, the strange man gave her a full smile and Evelyn was quick to notice his yellow teeth. He tipped his hat to her and began to walk away. “Alright then. You need a ride, look for my taxi and I’ll take you wherever you need.”

As Evelyn waved and headed back to the hotel, she was quick to check the contents of her bag for anything missing, but also went over what had just happened. That man had had white skin and red hair, spoke perfect English, but apparently was a local. She was quick to shake off the suspicion though. They were in a city near the border, and with her own ignorance of the place, that could very well be a normal sight around there. She shook her head. Paranoia born of a closed mind should be expelled if she wanted to participate in this war seriously.

Back inside the hotel lobby, preparations for their rooms were complete. They had been divided by gender, and were otherwise right next door to each other. The rendezvous with the Grail and its escort was in just a few hours; the rooms were essentially just a place to sit and rest until they received their next orders. After they got settled, Roberta offered “We should get something to eat.” They had had a long journey, and eating was welcomed by all of them. There was only one thing to consider: “How much time do we have until our meeting?”

Samuel checked his watch. “Plenty of time. Let’s leave our luggage and find some place to eat.”

Feeling a little disappointed, Kaito spoke up. “I want to walk around the neighborhood at least.”

“Believe me, there will be plenty of time for that after the meeting. Besides, we can’t get separated. Not here, nor in the future.” From lecturing his student, he turned to the rest of the party. “Listen here: things may feel peaceful, but we  _ are  _ at war. So tread carefully.” Left with that ominous warning, everyone returned to their rooms to wash before eating.

The hotel they chose to stay in wasn’t a fancy one, and their rooms reflected this. Each room was a standard two beds and a TV. Each had a small closet immediately to the right as they walked in the door, with a mirror on the opposite side. Opposite the beds was a small coffee table and two chairs. Each room had one bathroom, so they had to take turns showering.

Kaito was first to finish. As he got out of the shower and dressed, his teacher read the newspaper while sitting in one of the chairs. “Where did you get that?” His teacher hadn’t picked one up before they entered the hotel.

“I got it for him.” Assassin said, leaning on the wall in the corner, causing Kaito to jump.

Still reading the newspaper, Samuel explained. “I sent him around town to check for anything weird, and to bring some things while we wait for the girls.

“Yeah, I noticed the beer and ice in the sink.” It was hard not to notice as he got out of the shower. This reminded him of something. “Hey, Caster. You notice anything out of the ordinary while we were outside?”

A moment later they heard someone crack open one of the beers. Out of the bathroom Caster came, beer in hand. “Not at all. I think it’s pretty obvious we are going to be attacked once the Grail gets here, though.” She sat onto one of the beds as she speculated.

Assassin shook his head. “I don’t think so. There’s going to be five servants at that meeting. I’m more worried about the convoy being attacked before it even gets here.” Even if everything went right at the meeting, they still had to bring the Grail all the way to England. Assassin looked to his Master and could tell something in the paper had him worried. “Anything wrong, Master?”

Samuel flopped down the paper. “Yes. This whole town is a mess right now.” He got up from the chair and handed the newspaper to his Servant, who in turn read the headline and passed it on. “Homicides and missing person reports have skyrocketed this month alone.”

As Samuel grabbed a towel and got ready to shower, Kaito voiced his own opinion “They’re probably just painting a messy picture to sell more. Why does this worry you so much anyway?”

As his Master was unable to answer, Assassin answered instead. “It just means we can’t let our guard down. Not just the enemy faction will attack us in this war. A third party may strike any time while we are preoccupied.” These rogue elements included freelance magi, the church, and even organized crime. Anyone who caught wind of this Grail War could get involved, which the old Master knew quite well; conflict areas attracted dangerous people.

“Bah! He’s just being a worrywart. We have you guys to protect us in case anything goes wrong.” It was a little optimistic, but with good reason. Together they were a strong group of magi, each with their own Servant. It would be foolish for anyone to come after them. “Hey, Caster, can you check next door? We should get going as soon as possible.”

Caster stood up and made for the door. “Sure, maybe they can lend me some clothes. Something more fitting for this weather.” It was a quick walk next door. She gave the door a solid knock. “It’s Caster. Can I come in?” Roberta opened the door and let her inside, where the only person missing was Saber’s Master. “They sent me over to check.”

Saber was intently watching TV, but still got up to greet her. “Thank you for your attentiveness, but we are fine here.”

She chuckled at his stiffness and continued. “I can see that.” She glanced over to the beds where Berserker was jumping up and down on one of them and smirked. “Master told me we will get going as soon as everybody is ready. How long do you think that will take?”

“Shouldn’t be long. Just waiting on Evelyn’s shower. We’ll be out in a few.” Roberta was looking through the bags as she answered, occasionally pulling out clothes and giving them a once-over. “I’m looking for something that Berserker would fit into. Not much luck I’m afraid; we don’t have the best selection here.”

Caster lit up at the opportunity. “Really? Let me help. I’m sure we can figure something out.”

All through this, Berserker had not stopped his bouncing. “Mom, mom! I want to see the city!”

“Oh, we will, Berserker, hon. Just have some patience.” The child could make all the girls laugh and smile at his cuteness; it was like second nature to him. Yet Saber and Berserker locked eyes while the girls were preoccupied, and while Berserker still had that little impish smile plastered across his face, something about it put Saber on edge. Then it happened: for a split second, Berserker’s smile contorted into something twisted and horrifying. Not knowing what to think, Saber turned back to the TV, resolute to keep a closer eye on his Master and Miss Roberta.

***

  
  


Not too long after, they were ready to go. Only Caster and Berserker accompanied them physically, Saber and Assassin opting to watch from a spiritual form. This whole stop in Juarez had just been to kill time until the Grail and its escort arrived. This didn’t allow them much time for exploring and sightseeing.

As the sun was setting, they made it to the meeting point: a warehouse in the middle of the industrial district. There, they would have all the privacy they would want. Roberta broke the silence. “Hey, Samuel, isn’t your Servant running a little late?”

The pyromancer answered his old flame. “He is watching us as we speak; Assassin is a great sharpshooter.” He turned to teenagers. “Listen, when the truck arrives, you two stay inside the warehouse. Only open the doors after I give you the all clear.” Both nodded and took positions inside.

As she watched them go, she tut-tutted. “They didn’t even call out their Servants. Berserker?”

The Servant appeared at the Master’s call. “Yes, Mom?”

She looked at him seriously. “Keep yourself in the shadows. First sign of any problem, you take care of it.” The kid nodded in approval and disappeared from sight.

After that, Samuel spoke up. “Actually, Caster wanted to tag along with Assassin and Kaito let her. Wonder how they’re getting along.”

*********

The Servants took point in a church’s tower nearby, giving them the perfect view of the warehouse and the surrounding area. “Hey, Assassin. Think they’ll arrive soon?”

Assassin was busy looking at the Masters through his scope, or at least trying to. “I’m sure they will. They have important cargo though, so they will be taking their time. Also, could you be so kind as to get off my gun barrel?” Caster was currently looking over the meeting in her own way, standing atop of Assassin’s gun like a performer on a tightrope, completely obstructing the sharpshooter’s view. “How are you so light, anyway?” She wasn’t even throwing his aim off.

“One needs to control every aspect of his or her body in order to be a great escapist. Maybe I could teach you a few tricks one of these days.” She moved from her perch on the barrel to clinging to the tower itself, parallel to the ground, a perfect ninety degree angle with the tower.

None of it made any sense to Assassin, but he could see the convoy rounding the corner so he brushed it off. “Master, the truck is coming your way. The escort is two extra vans, one up front and one behind. I cannot sense anything from the truck but the vans carry five people each.” The convoy stopped in front of the outer gate of the warehouse, where Samuel and Roberta were waiting.

***

On the ground, the driver from the front van got up to greet the Masters. The uniform was a clear indication that he was from the Association, but that wasn’t enough for Samuel. “Bring up the Master. We aren’t talking to anyone else.” Clearly taken aback by such a request right off the bat, the driver quickly turned around and spoke to the rest of his group and two guys went to the back of the truck. 

Some minutes later another man got out of the truck to meet with them. “Hello. I’m Professor Faraday. You must be the rest of our faction’s Masters.” He was obviously the oldest of any of them, with grey hair running along his head and a full beard on his face. His brown fennel pants and green sweater were wrinkled thanks to a long journey, and his face was equally worn. A quick look at his hand revealed Command Seals, convincing the pair beyond and doubt. “Sorry, my Servant is under strict instructions to guard the Grail and can’t leave its side.” Samuel figured that fair enough, signaling the teenagers inside and both doors opened up for the convoy to enter. The first thing the Association magi did was to get themselves comfortable, finding rooms to lie down or to finally eat. “Don’t fault them. We have been sleeping in the cars ever since we landed. We never stopped and survived strictly on rations for the most efficient travel. We wanted to be here as soon as humanly possible. Well, as humanly as magi are, eh?”

Samuel nodded in understanding. “So I take it you will be staying the night?”

The Professor signaled the rest of the Masters to the main office. “Hey, it gives us time for the briefing.” They all made their way into the large meeting room and each took a chair. “So, for those of you that don’t know me, I’m Professor Joshua Faraday, Master of Archer.”

Kaito and the Professor shook hands. “I’m Kaito Horne. The old man is my sensei.” He jerked a thumb backwards at Samuel.

Behind him was Roberta, who took the Professor’s hand warmly. “Roberta. A shame we meet under these circumstances.”

He gestured to the other two with a nod. “I also wish I could have seen my students in better times. Evelyn, I was surprised when they told me you would be here. I hope we all make it through this okay.” He was smiling, but the worry was visible in his old features.

Evelyn was happy to respond. “I hope the same. I guess this is why your lecture was cancelled so suddenly?” The light moment was met with light chuckles.

“Samuel! It’s always good to see an old student of mine is doing well.” It had been many years since their last encounter.

“Suppose I can’t be too well if I’m fighting in this war. C’mere, old man.” He grasped the Professor’s arm in a friendly shake. “Seems like another life since I was a student. We’ve both changed a lot since then...” He trailed off but quickly brought himself back to the moment. “Let’s move things along; what’s the plan for us?”

For now there wasn’t much to say. “My group will move with the Grail to Houston, with your group following close behind. We won’t be traveling but a few hours apart from each other. Once we get into the city, we will meet up with Lancer and Rider; they’ll join with my group the rest of the way.”

Samuel spoke about his concerns first. “Why do we even need to move in two groups? Wouldn’t it be safer to move in one, larger group?”

“It’s not that we haven’t considered that option, but we will be passing through large towns and cities along the way. Traveling like this is to make it easier for your group to mobilize if the need ever arises.”

It didn’t completely convince Samuel, but it was enough to silence his doubt for now. Something about him not addressing the enemy faction put him on edge though. And this hadn’t gone unnoticed by his own student. “But how will this win us the war? Just hiding the Grail in another place won’t stop the enemy from pursuing it.”

“Why do you think we need your group so prepared?” The way the Professor spoke, it was as if this was the plan all along. “You four and your Servants will be our attack force. You will surprise our enemies and eliminate them while the rest of us protect the Grail.”

Those words shed some new light on the greater plan, and dispersed some of their worries. “Is that so?” Roberta asked, smirking. “We do have the best servant classes to be the assault group.”

“And we keep three Masters in reserve in case one of us gets injured.” Evelyn added.

While some worries were abated, others arose; Kaito spoke some of these aloud. “Then shouldn’t we be escorting the Grail? I mean, that’s the one thing we know for sure the enemy is going to be after. It doesn’t make sense to leave the Grail unprotected and then wait for an attack if we can fight them head on from the start!”

The Professor stroked his beard as he took some time to find the right words. “It is a flawed plan, no doubt about it, but we need to prioritize the movement of the Grail to England.”

The room was silent for what felt like an age. Then Samuel spoke. “Sounds like the best plan we are gonna get, honestly. What about tomorrow?”

That was easier to discuss for the Professor. “We will depart first thing tomorrow morning. Your group is to follow our trail within a few hours. You should depart no later than noon.”

“Understood.” With nothing else to say on the topic, Samuel’s group got up to leave. “Should we bring you something? You know, for the rest of the trip.”

Letting out a big sigh, the Professor raised a hand indicating that they stop. “We will be fine. I’ll send some of the men to get some supplies and all that later. But you all need to stay here.” Despite just trying to leave, they all understood the ultimatum. It was an inconvenience, but orders were orders; they would have to deal with it.

***

The rest of the night was uneventful. They had dinner in the warehouse, Servants keeping watch as told. As the night went on, boredom began setting in. There wasn’t much to do inside the place, but they were all too nervous to actually rest. 

During the down time, Kaito and Evelyn found themselves staring at the big truck where the Grail was supposed to be. It was a cargo truck and the cargo box was so big it stuck out the back of the warehouse. “Do they really need such a big space for the Grail? I thought it was a cup.”

Evelyn mused. “Maybe they have a big strongbox inside? I have to assume they also have the traveling supplies in there.” Not coming up with anything else, she decided to change the subject. “I didn’t know your teacher studied at the Clock Tower.”

“Neither did I. He doesn’t tell me much about his past.” Normally, Kaito thought that was for the best.

“Haven’t you known him since you were a kid? It’s weird that you wouldn’t know something so basic.” She could see the magus in question chatting up with the other two Masters. “Miss Roberta didn’t even know about you, and vice versa.” By that logic, she was placing the blame squarely on Samuel.

“It’s not that different from normal people, I think. Even families have these kinds of secrets.” Kaito shrugged. He wasn’t hurt or insulted; he didn’t think it a big deal. If it was important, Samuel would tell him. Just then, the teenagers could see Professor Faraday walk to the back truck and make his way inside the cargo; the rest of their team approached them soon after. “Hey, is he checking on the Grail?”

Roberta answered. “That’s what he said. I don’t see what the big deal is though; it’s a cup.” They could hear the cargo door open and close once again, but the Professor never came back to them. “Maybe he went to the bathroom?”

“There’s a bathroom here?!” Evelyn shouted, and quickly regretted that she couldn’t keep her voice down.

Samuel, after being taken aback, nodded. “Yeah, if you follow the door next to the entrance you should find the girl’s bathroom in the hallway.” 

Without another word, the girl ran off to try to find it. True to those directions, she found it. Professor Faraday stood outside as if waiting for somebody, but she didn’t think too much about it. “Excuse me, I need to step inside.” She didn’t give him a chance to respond, although he did seem confused at her power walking inside.

Thankfully, the place was clean. Not spotless, but better than the average public restroom. Evelyn could take her time in one of the stalls. As she got comfortable, a voice coming from the next stall caught her by surprise. “Um, h-hello?” It was a girl’s voice. “I-I didn’t know there were other girls here.”

“I didn’t either. Did you come with the convoy?” Evelyn figured she must be one of the guards that came with the Professor. She couldn’t tell for sure though; she hadn’t met any of them yet.

“Yes… uhm… Are you going to come with us the rest of the way?” Her shy tone confused Evelyn, but she realized she must have sounded similar a few days prior.

“Not with your group, but my friends and I will be very close in case you need anything. And all our Servants too!”

Evelyn could hear water being flushed. “Thanks. I hope we can speak again later.” That girl got out of the stall, washed her hands, and left. Once Evelyn was done she remembered they had never exchanged names. A shame, but it shouldn’t be that hard finding her amongst the guards in the future.

***

While the night ended simply for the main group, for Xiang and Lancer, the evening was just getting started. They had an imminent bus changeover at Phoenix, Arizona and were waiting at the terminal. “Master! How many more stops?! This would be so much easier if you just let me carry us to the meeting.” Lancer was more angry than annoyed at this point.

Her Master let out the latest sigh at the latest tantrum. “Maybe you’re right…” For the first time, Lancer actually stopped complaining. “At this rate, we won’t make it to the meeting on time.” As she pondered their options, a weird man approached the two of them.

“Excuse me, Shi Xiang?” It was obvious the man was English as he tried to pronounce her name. “I’m from the Association. We need to talk. It’s of the utmost importance.” Confused, but willing, the pair followed the man to the parking lot in the back and into a dark van parked there. Opening the doors revealed a small communications setup and another man manning the machines. “Our scouts had informed us that there’s an enemy camp a few kilometers outside the city”. The first man showed them a map of the area and circled a spot on the map. “The camp is right on your bus route. They were probably there to ambush you.”

Xiang was biting her thumb nail as she thought about their situation. “How could they even know about our route?”

“We don’t know yet. Maybe they had someone follow you?”

“Not likely. I didn’t sense anything from anyone during all our travels. And trust me, I’ve had nothing else to do during these dang bus rides and train rides but look for enemies.” Lancer interjected. She looked at the map while her Master and the first man spoke, and asked the other man in the van “Where are we? Do you know what the camp looks like?” The second man showed her some photographs taken from the site.

Her Master knew what to do now. “We are going to need another method of transportation. We can’t risk an ambush.”

Lancer perked up. “Is there a Servant in there?”

“We know very little about the Vox Nihili. We don’t know their Servants nor their Masters’ faces. But if this was indeed a plot to ambush you, it stands to reason there are at least two of them there.” He moved to speak with her Master. “The Association has a private plane in the city. We can go to the airport right now and get you to the meeting in a matter of hours.”

“Alright, Lancer, take our things and keep an eye out. We can’t be sure someone isn’t on our tail right now.” Having heard that, Lancer looked her in the eyes and, slowly, made her way out of the van and out of her sight. “Hey! Did you hear me? We need to get out of here and…” As she rushed out after her Servant, she could see Lancer stretching and materializing her armor.

Lancer’s armor was a golden chainmail under equally golden metal plates complete with arm and leg bracers. Ornamental figures of dragons and demons ran all over the armor and a red colored cape was clasped around the neck, with a red belt fastened around her waist. Her golden mane was left uncovered and unchecked and she wore a pair of dark leather boots that stood atop golden clouds by the heels. As for her famous weapon, Lancer carried a dark metal staff as tall as she was, with golden bands at each end. “The only place we are going, Xiang, is right after our enemy!” The wind was beginning to pick up and she already had the location of the enemy camp.

Her Master had had enough. “NO! We bide our time for now and fight another day!”

Lancer turned around to meet her Master’s glare. “The enemy is breathing down our necks. We need to show them that we mean business! I won’t turn around with my tail between my legs when there’s a fight to win!”

“You’re so obstinate and stubborn!” Xiang showed her Servant her Command Seals, beyond frustration at this point. “If you’re going to act this way, I’m going to use my right as your Master to put you in your place!”

For the next few seconds, they just stared at each other, each waiting for the other to back down. Instead, Lancer’s face only grew angrier every second until she could no longer contain it and turned her back to her Master. “Do what you have to do.” Then Lancer leaped into the sky with such strength that the air pressure she created broke the car windows all around.

This left Xiang alone to have a screaming fit with herself. She wasn’t about to use a Command Seal so early in the war and Lancer had called her bluff. Still fuming at her Servant’s disobedience, she turned to the men in the van. “Take me to her! We are attacking that camp and getting my Servant back!” The men rushed inside to make necessary calls to make it happen.

It was going to be a long night.

***

Back in Mexico, Evelyn was trying to find the girl she had spoken with in the bathroom. She was sure it wasn’t Miss Roberta, but she could find no other women amongst the Association’s soldiers. She ended up in the office where Professor Faraday was staying, and to her surprise, he was making tea. “Oh, Evelyn. Are you feeling alright?”

Feeling welcome, the girl walked inside. “Yes, thank you. How is everyone holding up?”

As the girl approached his desk, the man checked on the kettle. “Better now that we have a roof over our heads. Would you care for a cup? It’s always better to drink with company.”

“Sure, I’d love to.” As the Professor took out a couple cups, a thought crossed her mind. “Would it be alright if Saber joins us?”

The Professor was already holding three cups. “Of course! The more the merrier.”

As if on cue, Saber appeared alongside his Master and pulled out a chair. “Thank you for your invitation, sir.”

“Please, it’s no problem.” The sight of the black-haired Servant brought a smile to his weary features. “Having tea with a king is a rare pleasure.”

Saber perked up. “You’re aware of my legend?”

“Not so much a legend. Your stories and feats are legitimate facts in this world.” Evelyn explained.

“She’s right. The Father of Europe… a whole way of life couldn’t have been possible without you.” Even while in his casual clothes, Saber still had his sword strapped to his waist. “Ah, Joyeuse. I was the one who recovered it for the Association.”

“Then I suppose it’s thanks to you that I’m here right now.” While the previous statement rubbed him the wrong way, the Professor’s respect was still apparent. He still thought it best they change the subject from his past. “If I may ask, Professor, where is your Servant?”

As the Professor poured the tea, he answered quietly. “I told him he cannot separate from the Grail, no matter the cost. I even used a Command Seal to be sure of it.” He showed the pair his hand and sure enough, there was one faded part of the larger mark.

Saber took a long sip. “What kind of classes do you teach, Professor?”

Evelyn answered for him. “Professor Faraday is the best lecturer in the Tower on healing magecraft. Making medicine, helping with recovery, patching people up, all efficiently and effortlessly. I’m sure he’s the best healer in the Association. Isn’t that right, Professor?”

The overwhelming compliments made him chuckle. “I won’t say anything to that, but it is a popular subject. Everybody wants to at least pick up some basic healing magecraft in case they need it.” With an almost full teapot, they continued talking into the night. It was the first time all night that Evelyn felt she could really relax, helped in no small part by a familiar face.

***

In the middle of a forest in Arizona rested a small encampment. Well hidden by magical and mundane means, the camp was so small there was no room even for a mess tent. Any tents there were strictly for sleeping, and all the supplies were piled up under another tent to save them from the elements. It was a camp made on the fly, a temporary resting place. In this camp were highly trained people dressed in black uniforms with only one piece of ornamentation: A red eagle with wings spread, and the words Vox Nihili written beneath it.

None of that mattered to Lancer. Wind and dirt flew up into the air and there was a tremendous crashing sound as she landed right in the center of camp. As everyone turned to look at what had created a small crater in the middle of their hidden base, the invader roared. “EVERYBODY!!! I’M LANCER!!!” 

An eager guard immediately charged toward her, sword in hand. Lancer slapped the sword out of his hand and grabbed the man by the wrist. She quickly noticed that the general attire included gloves and immediately changed her strategy. She had planned to see who the Masters were and to eliminate them as fast as possible. But with everyone’s hands hidden under, it would be implausible to knock out everyone and remove their gloves. Instead, Lancer ripped the guard’s balaclava off his face. He was a lot younger than she was expecting, but she nonetheless bellowed into his face. “Are you a Master?” The man was trying futilely to free himself from her grasp. “Didn’t you hear me?!” There was still no answer, so Lancer threw the man out of the camp, challenging the whole group. “Bring me your Masters. Bring me your Servants. No matter who, I’LL TEAR THEM DOWN!!!”

The troop had used those extra seconds during her speech to get their weapons ready, and in waves they began rushing to meet Lancer’s challenge. Considering this was a surprise attack, praise was warranted for how prepared they were for a fight. Quickly falling into formation and performing tactics, they tried to surround their enemy while any long-ranged combatants kept her in place. Their offensive magecraft proved to be nothing more than a passing annoyance for the Servant, who only used her staff to parry each spell. Their foot soldiers were making no better headway, their common swords and lances unable to break her impenetrable defense. Lancer decided to set the staff in place, proceeding with hand to hand combat. To say she was brutal would be an understatement, as Lancer crushed bones, broke fingers, and twisted joints. The difference in strength was obvious.

Though through all of this, Lancer didn’t kill anyone. Her attackers would end up thrown around camp instead of falling before her. After warming up on foot soldiers, Lancer stayed still despite the increasing pressure from the ranged assailants. The Servant seemed uninterested in moving from the crater she created.

Then something unexpected happened; the troops stopped. Lancer, caught off guard, watched as from out of one of the tents came another uniformed figure. “Stop the ruckus!” A clearly female voice could be heard. She wore no gloves, nor anything to hide her face. She seemed to be the leader, and stared Lancer down as she gave out orders. “I’m talking to all of you: Tend to the wounded!” With soldiers scrambling to follow her orders, this woman approached the enemy. Her uniform was slightly elevated from her peers; a thick black sweater, equally dark cargo pants, and a black beret with their group’s sigil affixed to the front. Her red hair was kept short underneath and her eyes fiercely gleamed at the challenge. She muttered to herself “Such a wild Servant we were tasked with.” She even reached the sword she was carrying and unsheathed it, throwing the scabbard aside.

Lancer gave her a once-over. “Eh? You’re just a kid!” She was no older than her own Master. Still, she seemed to wield a certain presence that was above and beyond the rest of the rabble. “Are you a Master, or are you just wasting my time?” Something about her made Lancer want to take a closer look. This girl had the courage to stare down a Servant, and above all, the courage to stand up to her! Or at least… she was trying to. Her stance and glare gave an aura of courage, but Lancer could see the imperfections. First was the sweating; it couldn’t be seen under the dark clothes and the darkness of night, but Lancer could sense it. Next was the eyes, which looked like they could break at any moment, even if this was hidden under a hard glare.

The girl finally cleared her throat and introduced herself. “My name is Maeve Moore, I’m…” Before she could continue, or even assess the situation, Maeve found herself kneeling down as a surge of wind passed over her head, nearly blowing off her cap. Looking up, she realized that “wind” could have taken off her head. The Servant’s staff ran through the tent she had just exited. She also noticed that her own Servant had his hand on her shoulder and had moved her out of the way. “Lancer!”

This call out confused the woman Servant for a moment before she realized the obvious answer. “Miss, are you alright?” This new Servant asked, clearly concerned about his Master.

With the staff already returned to normal size, they both stood up. “Yes, thank you. You… saved my life.” After that realization, she looked back at her enemy and frowned. “Shameful display! You call yourself a heroic spirit but fight without honor!”

Lancer cupped a hand to her ear in a mocking gesture. “What was that? You’re the one that drops her guard while facing an enemy. But more importantly…” She pointed at her counterpart, still hiding in the shadows. “Get out of there, Lancer… Actually, what should I call you?”

“You can call me Vox Lancer.” Acquiescing to her request, the Servant in question let himself be seen. Fully clad in centurion armor, though without a helmet, this Servant towered over his Master. He had short black hair cut close to his head. His blue eyes held a gaze that was completely unlike the girl to his side. He looked without anger nor hatred, only a serious indifference. “Maybe it’s fate that put two Lancers face to face on the battlefield.” His armaments were a rectangular shield built for a phalanx and a broad tipped spear. “With that said,” Vox Lancer moved forward, leaving his Master behind. “You have no business with my Master. This is a fight between Servants.”

“No!” Maeve ran up beside her Servant, sword in hand and ready to fight. “As a commander of the Vox Nihili and Grand Master of the Order of Saint Margaret, I can’t back down from this fight!”

Lancer was quick to shoot her down. “Girl, you should listen to your Servant. You were almost pissing yourself just a bit ago.” She finally took a fighting stance, staff pointed at the pair. “Leave the fighting to us and stand aside!”

“Hey, don’t speak to our commander like that.” Another voice spoke from behind the Servant girl. From a different direction to her right came a sword swing. She dodged it easily by jumping forward, but this put her in line with the attacks of two other enemies in front of her. Even with all those incoming attacks, she was able to dodge and parry them while simultaneously pushing everyone away to create some breathing room. “To think you would bully such a nice girl as Miss Maeve. Are all in your faction like that?”

He was no taller than the enemy Lancer, but certainly built more muscularly, and postured proudly, waving a cocky smile all throughout the battle. He was blonde with some greying hairs, brown eyes, hair kept in a long braid, and armed with a broadsword in his right hand. He wore iron chainmail under boiled leather to protect his body, and a small wooden buckler was strapped across his back. Maeve seemed shocked by his appearance, accidentally exclaiming his identity. “Saber! Does this mean His Grace is here?” She spoke emphatically about this unknown person. Lancer assumed this was probably her superior, since the captain looked so hopeful.

Vox Saber sighed, still smiling at the young girl. “The old man isn’t going to show himself in a place like this, but he sent us to help you out.” He then turned to face his enemy. “Wouldn’t be much of an ambush with only one Servant.”

“Us?” There was something this new Servant said, or maybe didn’t say that caught Lancer’s attention. It didn’t take her long to put two and two together. Lancer jumped high into the trees surrounding the camp to get a quick scan of the area. They were deep enough in the forest that no path, natural or manmade, could be seen. It was all forest as far as any human eye could see, but Lancer didn’t have human eyes. Looking beyond the trees into a nearby desert, Lancer spotted a figure approaching them; fast enough that it would reach them in only a few minutes. That was easily enough time for her to deal with the enemy Lancer and Saber before this new figure arrived.

With her suspicions of backup correct, Lancer landed back on the ground and sneered. “Waiting for reinforcements, huh?” She took a stance and prepared to fight. “Imagine their surprise when they arrive to see that I wiped out the lot of you.” Even if the others arrived in time able to assist, she didn’t have a problem with this turning into a three on one fight. Honestly, the thought made her heart dance.

***

Within the warehouse, the night was uneventful. There were no unusual reports from the Servants on watch, and no strange individuals loitering around the perimeter. The Masters had decided to group up in the office to at least pass the time with conversation. As time passed, Evelyn began showing signs of illness; she was sweating hard and occasionally blacked out in the middle of talking. It didn’t seem magical in nature, so it was assumed it was just a natural bug, nerves, or something she ate. Still, it was decided she would be more comfortable back in her room at the hotel; they were sent back with their Servants, a small guard escort, and strict orders not to leave Evelyn alone.

Even with their orders clear, Evelyn had one request. “Could you please bring me something cold to drink?” They were in her room and she had just sat down on the bed, but she couldn’t get comfortable feeling the way she did.

Kaito considered going next door to grab a beer, but decided against it. Beer wasn’t exactly a stomach relaxer, and there was a general store just down the street. “Sure. Wait here, and don’t strain yourself.” He shared one final look with Saber, and departed.

As he exited into the hallway, Caster appeared alongside. “Better for me to accompany you like this, Master.” Ostensibly this was in case the enemy got any funny ideas, but in truth Caster just preferred to walk around in her own body, even if this was just a simple errand.

Entering the store, Kaito casually asked, “Hey, do you want anything?”

Surprised at being asked, she still answered eagerly. “Something with lots of sugar, and some snacks.” Her eyes shot to the entrance as the door opened.

“Planning an all-nighter?” Kaito was curious about such a poor dietary desire.

Her gaze was not pointed at him when she responded, but was instead glued to the shelves. “Someone has to keep an eye out with that girl sick. Also, hand me a banana.” Seemed an odd choice to Kaito, but still he obliged as he passed the produce.

They were ready to pay but Kaito was still confused by the banana. Maybe it was just to vary things up, maybe it was because potassium helps you stay awake, but she only asked for one. Still, he handed the fruit to Caster without question. Just as he did it, however, the man who entered the story after them rushed the counter, gun in hand. The boy knew better than to intervene and tried to stay hidden to wait things out. Meanwhile, his Servant made her way to the front. “Caster, what are you doing?”

Still jovial, she turned to Kaito. “Let’s go and pay up, Master. Eve must be waiting for us.” Caster approached the register as if nothing was happening, even while the cashier and robber looked at her in utter confusion. Kaito followed with care, still trying to keep himself behind things. Further surprising everyone at the counter, Caster calmly placed her items on the counter. “Are you going to buy something, or can we jump in line.” She gave the robber a wink and smiled, and was held at gunpoint as an answer.

“Hey, leave her alone!” Kaito finally decided to step in.

In that split second, while the robber’s eyes were focused on Kaito, Caster made her move. “I mean, this must be a joke, right?” She pointed. They all looked down, and the robber appeared to be holding a banana. Scared, shocked, and confused at the circumstances, the would-be robber fumbled the banana and ran out of the store.

After the cashier calmed down enough to cash them out, he insisted that they take the goods on the house. When Kaito and Caster declined, he thanked them once more and the duo made their exit. As they made their way back, Kaito still couldn’t brush off what had happened. “Caster, how exactly did you do that?”

Caster stopped, then led Kaito into a nearby alleyway. “It was just a little sleight of hand. Here, I’ll show you. Take this.” She presented Kaito with the nicked gun. With some hesitation, Kaito took the gun in his hand, though he needed Caster to show him the right way to hold it. He pointed it down the empty alley. “It’s all about pressure points.” She pinched his wrist and fingers, which made his grip soften. “I could put some of my mana into this and make your body do some crazy stuff. Which is why I mastered them for our gig.” She took the gun from his hand and began dismantling it. “It’s more than magic. It’s stage magic.” As she finished, she threw the pieces away in a nearby trash can and picked up their groceries. “And it’s not like this is my only ace. You should always keep a few of those up your sleeve.” As if to punctuate, she slid three aces of spades into her hand, fanned them out, then made them disappear in a puff of smoke.

***

Lancer was in her element. Despite the fight appearing an uneven two on one, both sides were actually on equal ground. The two Vox Servants were on the offensive, repeatedly attacking the plated golden Servant from all possible angles. They alternated between working as a pair, trying to trap the girl in a pincer attack, or trying to pull her attention away while the other went for an attack in her blind spot. Their movements and footwork took them all over the camp, raising wind and dirt as they fought. Each of them swung with blows so powerful the ground trembled.

Off to the side was still one observer: the soldier Maeve, with her sword ready. Her foot soldiers were busy moving the wounded, leaving her attention unopposed. Yet at the same time she seemed too overwhelmed by the battle happening in front of her to actually move an inch. In her head the plan was simple: wait for an opening. But the Servants moved so fast, and their fight was so brutal, that it left her feeling outclassed. Despite all of this, there was one thing she had noticed. “Sh-she isn’t attacking.” 

Indeed, the enemy Lancer was focused solely on defense, much like before when she only fought the human soldiers. The difference this time was that she regarded her foes seriously. This, after all, was a fight between Servants. She needed to play it safe until she could size up her opponents fully. When Vox Saber and her had locked weapons, she was surprised to find that he was able to match her strength. This was no small feat considering who  _ she  _ was. After disengaging and dodging away, Lancer buried her staff erect in the ground and jumped on top of it. This gave her some elevation so she could address them. “You two seem capable enough. I never would have imagined I’d come across a Servant that could match my strength.” The Servant stood proud with arms crossed, looking down upon her opponents. “But I have to say…” She jumped back to the ground and grabbed a hold of her weapon. “You’ll never be able to defeat me.” Her gloat was met with angry death glares from the pair. Lancer still donned her cocky smile and continued. “And it’s all a matter of luck. Seriously, you three have got to have the  _ worst _ luck if I was the one you were sent after.”

After that, Vox Saber could only see red. The Servant charged against the enemy sword first and slammed into her with all of his might. Lancer could only hold him with both hands, trying to stop herself from being knocked out of the forest. The sword hit her in the stomach, right under the diaphragm, but that wasn’t enough to wipe the smile off her face. As she kept Saber in her grip, the enemy Lancer went for a stab in her side. The pair immediately realized their attacks had no effect; they hadn’t even penetrated her golden armor. In response to their confusion, Lancer placed her staff in front of Vox Lancer and extended it, the force of the blow separating them in an instant. Turning her attention to the next enemy, Vox Saber, she grabbed the man by the back of his head and dropped her elbow on his face, giving him a gash over his left eye, spilling some of the blood on her face.

After that, both enemy Servants jumped back. “Impossible! My spear should have been able to pierce her armor like nothing!” Vox Lancer shouted in disbelief.

After checking his new wound. “And my strength and sword cut through everything in their way.” Saber was assessing his sword to see if it had gone blunt.

Cleaning the blood from her face. “You should have aimed for the head.” Lancer tapped her head, chuckling. “You like my armor? It protects me from any and all piercing attacks. An unbreakable defense, and the ultimate Noble Phantasm against you two!”

Finally understanding what she had meant Saber and Lancer frowned. Against their classes, that armor would make her practically invulnerable. Still, “Like you said, we only need to aim for the head.” Vox Saber prepared himself to continue. Still angry about the previous exchange, and ready to behead the enemy, he looked to his partner for confirmation.

Lancer was neither bothered nor alarmed though. “I guess, but good luck.” She took another fighting stance. “Those hits I gave you? Those will be the last attacks you’ll be able to land. Do you get it? You had your chance, and you blew it. Eh, you can think about it while I’m slamming your head against the ground.”

All three Servants then charged at the same time. But right before they clashed weapons, Lancer vanished. The Vox Servants looked around as they whiffed their strikes, before noticing their enemy was now above them, staff aimed at them. Again the staff extended, faster than Saber could dodge, catching him in the shoulder and plowing him into the ground, earth shattering around his body. Not yet done, Lancer used her staff as support to jump towards the remaining Servant. With a swift tackle, both Lancers hit the ground. Vox Lancer in his duress dropped his weapons and was unable to free himself from under the girl Servant. It was an attack that lacked finesse, yes, but it was effective. Quickly, he found an opening and grabbed hold of the girl’s hands. It wasn’t about stopping the punches, but to hold her in place while Saber took a swing at her head.

Lancer, though, could read the plan off Saber’s eyes. She leaned forward as soon as her hands were grabbed, dodging Saber’s attack. Further, she hoisted the enemy Lancer out from underneath her, since he was so attached to her hands, and threw him into his compatriot.

This whole exchange took only a few moments, but for the bystander, Maeve, it felt like an age had passed. What was worse, was both of their Servants were wounded, and she hadn’t even gotten into the fight. That irreverence set her over the top, and she tried rushing her enemy down in a surprise attack. Unsurprisingly, Lancer spun around to intercept, while keeping an eye on her downed foes.

Suddenly, Lancer felt strange. Her head began feeling light and her vision blurred. Nonetheless, she was able to counter the human’s attack and pushed her away. As soon as she did that, Lancer’s feet shook. It seemed her knees were a bit weak. Maybe the fight took more out of her than she thought? Something unusual had just happened. She didn’t feel tired, and her mana reserves were still quite high. The only explanation seemed to be enemy shenanigans, but what? She needed to figure it out fast; the enemy Servants were about to resume their attack.

They attacked with renewed vigor, and Lancer fought back. If the fatigue was slowing her down, she surely didn’t show it. It was harder to jump around at this point, so she focused on counters and swift dodges. During another pause, Lancer realized she was sweating hard, and it wasn’t because of physical strain.

The fight was really growing in intensity. Her enemies were becoming perceptive of her condition and how bad it was getting. Her movements had already turned sluggish, her vision was a blurred mess, and she was practically gasping for air. It was impressive, to be honest, how well she was keeping up in such a condition. And Lancer, to be sure, was still confident that she could end this fight in her favor with a bit of time and clever thinking. Unfortunately, a reality check came quickly from Saber in the form of a strong right punch to the gut, fast enough she couldn’t react, with enough force that her armor was useless. Lancer stood her ground, and was able to again avoid being thrown backwards.

“Are you sure you aren’t a Berserker?” Was the only thing she could say, as she grimaced in pain at the tremendous amount of strength that Servant was packing.

He laughed at her in response, finally feeling the tides turn in their favor. “That’s all you can say? I thought you were sure no one would ever touch you again.”

Before she could retort, Vox Lancer threw his spear at her. Unlike the previous attack, she could see this one coming and was able to catch the weapon mid flight by its tip. Vox Lancer had planned for this, and ran toward her to grab his weapon from the rear and pushed it forward, attempting to pierce her face. Even in her weakened state, though, Lancer proved stronger than him, leaving him with plan B. He jumped up freeing his weapon and staggering his enemy’s footing. In the air, facing down, Lancer took his chance to stroke, maneuvered around the armor, and pierced her left shoulder.

The wound wasn’t that deep. More than a scratch, not life-threatening, but it did have an adverse effect. It made her mad. So much in fact that she could see nothing but red and had lost any and all self awareness. Even her appearance began to reflect this; her eyes turned bright red, and her teeth grew into sharp fangs. Her blond hair also began to encroach onto her face and hands. She had turned into something resembling an ape. “Now who’s a Berserker?” Saber snarked, ready to keep fighting.

Everyone was ready to continue, when they heard a high pitched yelp in surprise, drawing their attention. Maeve had been left alone and unarmed after her futile attack. Now she was being held in a full nelson, and looked terrified. The new figure that had taken her prisoner spoke up. “Everyone back down or I break her neck!” The Servants froze in place. “Lancer, you need to retreat! We don’t have much time!”

Lancer turned on her. “You gotta be shitting me! I’m not going anywhere, these assholes are going to pay!” Her Master had almost forgotten how stubborn her Servant was, but before she could push further, another figure appeared.

It was a man on horseback, wearing pitch black armor and an ashen cape. He was armed with a sheathed sword on one side and a hand axe on the other, but what really made him stand out amongst all other Servants… was the lack of a head. This headless rider was atop a jett black horse with burning coal eyes. The sight was so unsettling that it caused Xiang and her Servant to drop the subject of their fight.

“Maeve, what’s going on here?” Another man appeared from behind the rider. A tall man with a stern glare and bald head stepped forward. He wore a uniform similar to Maeve’s, but without the beret. He pinched his nose and sighed in disgust. “You were supposed to ambush the enemy, yet it seems your camp and company were the ones who ended up routed.” He spoke with a stern tone that matched his gaze, and he kept his hands restrained. He seemed unconcerned about his subordinate being taken hostage.

Said subordinate hung her head in defeat. It was all true; she was a failure of a commander. “I’m sorry, mister Denis, we were caught-”

“No excuses!” The man snapped back. “A real commander shouldn’t be throwing excuses to cover for their mistakes! You should be working on fixing them! All this shows is that His Grace made the wrong decision putting you in command.”

Maeve was now fighting back tears, unable to speak. Her captor was too strong for her to free herself, and with her life at stake, none of her companions could do anything. It really appeared she was the weakest link at the moment, perhaps in the entire organization, and she had never noticed. “There’s still something I can do!” Maeve suddenly looked determined and executed a final plan. “Lancer, by my first Command Seal, I order you to cut the enemy Master down, even if you have to kill me to do it!”

Lancer paused, stunned. “W-What are you saying, miss?” As the Command Seal in her hand disappeared, her Servant began moving forward. Lancer’s expression of shock remained as he tried fighting the order as best he could. But the magic was too strong for him and his body began to move in for the kill.

Xiang was equally surprised by this sudden turn, but still maintained her position. She figured it was better to keep the hostage than to let it go and have nothing to leverage against the enemy. Maybe though, that wouldn’t matter in the next few seconds. Both of the newcomers stayed silent, waiting for everything to play out.

As the enemy Lancer raised his spear to throw it at his targets, Saber rushed in to hold him down. The Servant grabbed his companion by the arms, trying to stop him from carrying out his orders. “Lancer! How weak are you that you can’t fight an order like that? This is an order to harm your own Master!” It seemed nothing would stop him and Lancer was growing more difficult to keep restrained; any more force and he would start hurting him. “Hey. You’re one of us; shouldn’t you try and free Miss Maeve?!” He pleaded to the man standing by.

There was nothing in this developing situation that had earned a reaction from this man. Emotionlessly, he responded. “This is exactly what she needs to do to redeem herself. If she doesn’t work as a soldier, the best she can do is be our sacrificial lamb.” Astonished and upset, Saber grunted as he struggled with Lancer. This was an unspeakable stance to him, to abandon your soldiers for failure.

The command was not wearing off, and Saber needed to work harder every moment to subdue his fellow Servant. As if to relieve him, Lancer literally beat him to the punch. She hit the Servant with her staff right in the center of his head, throwing all her remaining strength into the blow. She hoped it would be enough to knock him unconscious. Xiang decided to take that chance to escape. She freed her captive, spinning her around before punching the girl hard in her side. A loud cracking sound was heard, followed by a scream of pain. Hopefully injuring one of their commanders would be enough to allow their clean getaway. As they ran, nobody followed them. The older man and his Servant didn’t look interested, and Vox Saber quickly ran over to check on Maeve’s wounds. “You’re both failures as Servants.” The older man began to mount his horse again and spoke down to Saber. “Weren’t your orders to prevent the enemy from leaving the forest alive?” He then motioned to the downed Lancer. “And a Servant that doesn’t follow orders? Completely worthless.”

Saber assessed that Maeve would be just fine. She only had some minor bruising and a broken rib. He looked back at her superior. “I don’t see you doing anything. You’re still unharmed. Why aren’t you pursuing the enemy?”

“We have different orders. I just came to deliver…” Before he could explain, he heard some whistling coming from up in the sky. The two of them realized they were still under attack. It was a mortar barrage coming down to their camp. Saber used his shield and body to protect the downed Master. Bombshells exploded in midair and thousands of wooden splinters rained down onto the camp.

“Scuto amoris divini. A maiore ad minus. A capite ad calcem. Absit iniuria.” The man summoned a barrier to protect himself and his Servant, able to more easily assess what was happening. “Splinters?” As the munitions stopped falling, wooden vines and roots began growing out of the splinters in the ground, trapping the group in them. The bald man watched Saber try to cut it all down but it was futile to do it alone. “Saber, take the girl and her Servant, get out of here, and keep them safe!” He then gestured to his own Servant. The headless rider surrounded himself and his horse in vibrant green flames, which quickly spread throughout what was left of the camp and began to inch its way into the greater forest. Saber meanwhile leapt away with Lancer over his shoulder and Maeve under one arm.

***

Before long they had made it back to the hotel. Unfortunately, Evelyn had just managed to fall asleep before they arrived, leaving Kaito feeling like a disappointment. Nonetheless, the fact that she was resting kept him at some ease.

Didn’t stop them to sit around the room and make some talk though. “Here, Saber, you can take some of our snacks.” Caster passed some drinks and an open bag of candy towards him.

Saber picked up the bag of snacks and gave the back information a quick look. “Can’t believe people today actually eat this kind of food.” Too much sugar and chemicals for his taste. He opted for some of the juice they bought, at least that said it contained real fruit.

“Eh, there’s worse out there. To be honest, I have a small sweet tooth, so it doesn’t really bother me.” She preferred the sugar rush over everything else, that’s all. “What about you, Master?”

Kaito was enjoying the bag of chips he bought when he was caught by this question. “I like spicy food over sweets, really. I think it gives food more flavor.” Not like his palate has had that much experience, but he knows what he likes. Although he was avoiding the sugar at the moment, he was going to hit the sack in a few minutes anyway. Finally, Kaito glanced towards Evelyn, still resting on her bed, all covered up. “What could have made her sick?”

“The food, probably...” Saber spoke up. “But she is going to be fine, my Master is a strong person.” Even if she didn’t look like it at the moment. “Caster, tell me about yourself. What did you do in life?”

But it was Kaito that spoke up. “Yeah, that’s actually a good question. You were… are an escapist, I know that, but...” Maybe he needed to say this with some care. “Please don't be angry, but I don’t see how that made you a Heroic Spirit.”

Caster didn’t take this as an offense, in fact the mystery of her own heroic spirit situation kind of intrigued her. The woman began to think about it, pulling out all of her previous antics inside her mind. “I can’t say for sure. Remember that there’s a lot that constitutes Heroic Spirits. Our Saber here created a country, then we have Assassin that represents a whole genre in culture on top of being a fictional character, and Berserker was a murderer in life. Not really heroic if you ask me.”

All of them fair points raising even more questions about Servants. “Yeah, I think the Grail just has a twisted sense of humor, if you ask me.” Kaito threw in his two cents.

Still, Caster was trying to come up with a good explanation for her presence here. “Maybe it is my womanly charm that brought me here.” Now dropping the attitude and posh accent. “I’m sure pushing myself to the limit won me some points.” Now having an idea to go on. “My antics and downright shenanigans while setting up escapist shows may have shed some light on what is possible for a magus to archive if they pushed themselves hard enough.” Not a perfect answer by any means, but it was an answer. “I mean, maybe not as strong as martial artists and the like, but that’s the only thing I can come up with.”

Which seemed to be enough for Saber. “Heh, now that’s an interesting idea. It sure makes you think, doesn’t it? About how we work on the inside.”

It sure did, a little bit at least, but those questions would have to wait for another day. “It’s already late enough, I’m going to bed.” Kaito got up and was ready to retreat to his own room. “Are you two fine staying here?”

He received a thumbs up from his Servant. “Sure, sleep easy, we will keep an eye out for problems.”

“And I won’t leave my Master’s side, you can count on that.” Saber added. With that taken care of, Kaito went to sleep. Tomorrow would be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still trying to fix some issues and edit a bit more in case I missed a few mistakes.


	3. Heat Up Battle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have some backlog in this but I'm reaching the end of it.
> 
> I hope the story picks up before I reach it.

To the east, Xiang and Lancer waited for the convoy to catch up to their location. They were staying at an Association safehouse surrounded by magi from the Association and were ordered to stay in their room; important personnel were told only to deal with the Master if anything happened. Everyone else was to stay away, particularly from Lancer, as she seemed unable to calm down, there were rumors that the Servant had gone completely mad from her wounds and would kill anyone that wasn’t her Master. 

The truth of the matter was that Lancer was fuming hard, drinking heavily, and couldn’t stop scratching her left arm, almost ruining the bandages wrapped around it. “How many times do I have to tell you to leave your wounds alone?!” The Master reprimanded her Servant.

Lancer spun around on the bed, facing her Master who was working at the desk of their room. “I’m never listening to you again, Xiang! How dare you interfere in my fight?!” The Servant still had her face all bruised up, left eye all bloody, and left arm bandaged up with a sling around her shoulder. The veins of her wounded arm had faded from their normal colors and could be seen tinted black.

Her Master rolled her eyes, not for the first time, at the protesting. “You complain, but I didn’t need to use a Command Seal to get you out of there.” She watched Lancer chug more of the alcohol that their support had brought at the Servant’s request. “And stop drinking! It won’t mix well with the medicine.”

Xiang reached for the bottle, but Lancer raised it out of reach. “Your medicine isn’t even working. The alcohol at least gives me  _ some _ comfort.” That wound on her arm had never stopped hurting; she could only dull the pain little by little.

Xiang shook her head, but understood. After all, she was the one who patched up the Servant, and knew first hand how severe the wounds were. “You need to hang in there until tomorrow. They tell me a medicine man will arrive first thing in the morning. I’m sure he can heal whatever is happening to you.”

The Servant rolled around the bed in frustration, brushing aside any good sentiments. “Ugh. I’m going to sleep. Wake me up when this doctor gets here.”

Xiang sighed again. She found herself doing that a lot these days. At least Lancer was trying to calm down, she thought. But what if this injury doesn't get better? What if this medicine man doesn’t know how to heal her Servant? Could Lancer really fight to protect the Grail with these wounds?

***

  
  


True to their plan, the convoy was ready to leave town first thing the next morning, with Professor Faraday and his Servant tagging along. Neither Samuel nor Roberta had ever had the opportunity to lay eyes on the Grail the entire time they were together. Truthfully, all they wanted was a decent rest after spending the entire night on watch.

When the two pairs of Masters and Servants returned to the hotel, they found that Evelyn was still ailing. Her fever wasn’t high but it still sapped all her energy, leaving her bedridden. Intending to get some sleep before they hit the road themselves, Roberta stayed with Evelyn in the hotel and volunteered the men to bring them breakfast. Samuel accepted after a short prep; Kaito had slept through the night and was good to go.

After the men left, Roberta took a shower. When Evelyn woke up, she found Saber sitting at the end of her bed, watching the TV. As he heard her shuffle, he moved closer to her side. “Ah, you’re awake. Do you need anything, Master?”

Evelyn sat up. “Just some water, please.” She put a hand to her head in an attempt to cool it. After she received her water, she forced a smile, then dropped it for a frown. “I’m sorry, Saber. There’s a war going on out there and you’re stuck here taking care of me.” It was the worst possible timing to get sick, she was well aware.

But the Servant only smiled at her. “You don’t have to apologize, right now your only concern should be getting better.” The girl still looked troubled and Saber understood what she was thinking. “Listen here. Pushing yourself when you’re like this will do none of us any good. It’s not a matter of you being a burden or being useless.”

She was quick to retort. “I know that, but these aren’t normal circumstances. I can’t help but feel like dead weight.”

“If you can’t trust in my words, trust in my judgment. A good soldier knows when to push itself for greatness and when to lay low.” Saber smiled at her again and put a reassuring hand on her arm. “Rest and get better. Don’t worry about anything else.”

  
***   
  


Meanwhile, the breakfast group had arrived at a restaurant down the street and sat down. Ultimately, they had decided to eat there and bring some food to go for the girls. They of course all started with a round of coffee, and then quickly placed their orders. “How did everything go back at the warehouse?” Kaito asked.

“Quiet. No messages from the Association, no sign of enemies, not even familiars. Let’s hope it stays that way all across the border.” Samuel answered in between sips. “So, what do you think of Mexico?”

He found it easy to answer. “Nothing much to think. It’s not like we’re here as tourists.”

Caster excitingly popped in. “We did stop a robbery last night!” Despite the weird looks she got, Kaito refused to explain, just chuckling at the thought.

“I’m glad to know you two are ready to fight.” Assassin spoke for the first time. “Not sure about the girl, though. You think she’ll be well soon?”

Though the question was directed at her Master, Caster answered. “I’m sure she will be fine, Assassin. She has us for support, after all.”

Samuel added “Still, we can’t carry someone sick all over the country. Maybe it’d be better for her to ride with the convoy.” Considering the position would place Saber in, this seemed like a bad strategy. “Also, the Professor told me he wants all the Masters and Servants to meet up again soon. No set date yet, but we should assume it will be shortly after we cross the border.” There was nothing else important to mention, so they sat back and enjoyed their drinks.

In the hotel, Evelyn was finally feeling better, and both Masters were starting to get hungry. “What say we find something to eat ourselves?” Roberta raised an eyebrow as she posed the question.

“What about Kaito and Mr. Samuel? They went specifically to get us food. It feels rude just disappearing on them.”

But she wanted to encourage the girl to get out and get some air. “It’ll be fine. We can eat and be back before they even know we’re gone.” By now Roberta had helped her stand. “Besides, we should do some sightseeing. You never know when we’ll be back in town.”

Evelyn noticed her legs weren’t weak and wobbly anymore, though she still had a light headache. Still, this was the best she had felt in a few days. “Alright, just let me put on my shoes.” 

Along with their Servants they took off down the street the opposite way the men had gone. Not too far from the hotel, they found a small tourist plaza teeming with street vendors and locals. There was a band playing on a small wooden stage, and children were running around playing football. Despite all the hustle and bustle and the noise of the crowd, they were not bothered, though Evelyn did draw a lot of attention as an obvious outsider. Both Servants had stayed incorporeal to keep an invisible eye on things. Roberta was familiar with the culture, being a former national, so she thought it better that they not stand out so completely.

It wasn’t hard to find something to eat; there was food being sold at practically every other stall. However, there wasn’t really any space to sit down and eat. The four of them decided to find a place off to the side under some trees. “So, what do you think? Better than staying inside the hotel, hm?”

Evelyn was already finishing up her food; she had apparently been hungrier than she’d thought. “Yes, this place is so lively and fun. But shouldn’t we get back soon? I’m sure the guys are back by now and are probably worrying about us.” Before they could consider returning, screams echoed from the distance, growing louder with each passing moment.

The Servants quickly appeared beside their respective Masters. “Mom, trouble incoming!” Berserker spoke while pointing in the direction of the screams.

“Yes, Master. This is no normal menace.” Saber could already sense the work of enemy magic in the distance, though he’d have to get closer to know anything more.

Meanwhile, back in the restaurant, Samuel and Kaito were still waiting for their food, and it had been quite some time since they ordered. Come to think of it, they hadn’t seen any of the restaurant workers for awhile. “I need to go use the bathroom.” Kaito stood up from his seat.

“You do that. I’m going to check on our food.” Samuel motioned to Assassin to stay seated, and made his way to the kitchen.

Kaito took care of his business, but something weird happened inside the bathroom. It might have just been his imagination, but he could’ve sworn he could hear screaming coming from outside. There were no windows in there, just a small vent up near the ceiling, so he couldn’t really investigate. He washed his hands and went back to his table, immediately realizing how sour the atmosphere had turned. His teacher and both Servants were all looking at each other with serious expressions. At least one of them had their arms folded, and there was no food on the table. “What’s going on?” Kaito asked.

Samuel took a deep breath and placed his hands on the back of his head. “We are under attack.” This only confused him more; there was no one there. “See for yourself.” Samuel pointed a thumb behind at a table across the restaurant. Kaito could see a strange figure dressed only in red robes and looking down at the table. These robes covered most of its body, and completely masked its face. Kaito still didn’t understand; it didn’t seem threatening. “We noticed as it arrived. It’s an enemy Servant.” The figure moved its head up to look at their group. Only then did Kaito see it clearly.

The face under the hood was a skull. The figure in those robes was just a skeleton, expressionless and eerie. Its hands were, as expected, mere bones, and it didn’t speak, only creaked slightly as it moved. “How are you so sure it’s an enemy?” Kaito hoped maybe it was friendly.

Samuel pointed to the kitchen and answered. “All of the staff are dead. Their throats have all been sliced open. It’s a mess.” He looked to the Servants. “Any idea what class that thing is?”

“Assassin.” Both answered simultaneously. They didn’t have any way of knowing for sure, but it seemed a safe guess. Kaito still didn’t understand, though, why they weren’t fighting it yet. Maybe just the shock of it visually? Apparently the Servant had just nonchalantly walked into the place after massacring the entire staff and sat as if waiting for service. No Master in sight, either, which just added to the bizarreness of the whole situation.

“Here’s a weird idea: why don’t we just leave?” Kaito broke the awkward silence; that was all he could think to do. There didn’t seem to be anything stopping them from leaving. “We get Eve and Miss Roberta and we leave the city.”

“Now, kid, you know we can’t do that.  _ We _ are the attack force and  _ that’s _ the enemy.” Considering everything, it would probably be better to keep the enemy away from their ill Master, and they had a numbers advantage anyway. “Assassin, why don’t you go feel it out? Take a couple potshots at it.”

“At least someone has a sensible idea.” Assassin stood up and approached the enemy Servant as instructed and instantly summoned his silenced gun. The rest of the group retreated behind the bar for protection. This didn’t exactly give Assassin much confidence and security, but he still had his orders. He aimed high and fired two bullets at his target. Both were bullseyes, right at the center of the skull, but it didn’t appear to do much damage to the enemy Servant. He sighed. That was the issue with most of his weapons; they weren’t very effective against non-human opponents. After all, it’s not as if he had fought any such creatures during his life.

The knockback from the shots pushed the Servants head back, but it quickly raised up again and finally stood up. With their attention on the inhuman monster, though, everyone had missed the kitchen doors opening. What actually alerted them at first was the groaning. Then the three of them watched the staff start shuffling out of the kitchen, throats still agape, and clothes drenched in blood. As the corpses began to meander toward them, Samuel spoke. “Right… time to get out of here.”

As they moved to leave, the enemy Servant took to the offensive. It moaned as it lunged toward Assassin, catching his attention and preparing him for combat. From inside the crimson robes, a huge ritualistic dagger could be seen emerging from the folds. Reacting as fast as he could, Assassin grabbed one of the nearby chairs and swung it at the skeletal Servant to give him an opening to make distance. Recovering from the chair shattering on its body, the robed enemy launched itself toward the group once more, screeching. Thankfully, Caster had the sound mind to slam the door in its face, allowing them to escape momentarily.

“What the hell was that?!” Kaito shouted, still unable to process what he saw.

Samuel shrugged. “Noble Phantasm, maybe?” They needed to figure out what to do. “Let’s get back to the hotel. Assassin, find the girls and tell them to meet us there.”

“You sure you want that, Master? The enemy is closing in. I should be here.” Assassin pointed to the end of the alley where the living corpses and some reanimated skeletons were moving toward them. However, there was no sign of the enemy Servant.

He wasn’t terribly confident about his plan, but they needed to regroup if they were going to really engage. “We can take care of ourselves here. I need you to give Roberta all the help you can. Go!” While his Servant disappeared, the enemy had grown incredibly close, and their numbers had multiplied. “Kaito, we are gonna have to push through, hard and fast. Get ready.” He prepared his fire.

“Alright! Caster, keep an eye out for that Servant. We’ll take care of the rabble.” She nodded in agreement and Kaito prepared his own flame, pulling out his lighter. He was concerned about innocents in the town getting in the way, but truth be told, it was likely that the bulk of the enemy force was made up of those innocents. There was no avoiding it: despite their best efforts, the War was already creating a body count. The Magic Association or the Church (or both) would have to clean this up later.

*******************************************

  
  
  
  


Evelyn and Roberta rushed into the plaza, where the screams had originated, and unsurprisingly found more screaming and people fleeing the scene scared out of their mind. Then, suddenly a building across the street exploded. The blast left their ears ringing but they were otherwise unharmed. The resulting fireball spread to nearby buildings and as the structures collapsed a column of dust arose in its place, combined with the ringing and it was enough to leave the Masters unable to perceive their surroundings. Both Servants were alert, trying to find the enemy responsible, but seemed unable to detect any leads.

In the middle of all the chaos and moving bodies, Evelyn felt something grab her by the leg. She looked down and noticed it was a small boy, no more than 5 years old, obviously scared, his face turned toward the ground. After a few moments, Evelyn was able to hear her own voice again, and tried to come down to his level to help him. “What happened? Where are your parents?” She scanned the area, but the only people around were running away. The kid probably didn’t even speak her language, if she was being honest. “Are you ok, are you hurt?” She knelt down and tried to raise his chin to see his face, and that’s when she noticed the bullet hole right in the center of his forehead. The sigh of it froze Evelyn in place, too scared to respond. The kid opened his mouth inhumanly wide and bit down on her leg, ripping off a chunk of meat.

Her screams caught the attention of Saber, who was quick to react, separating the two with a swift blow from his still-sheathed-sword to the child. With the assailant obliterated, Saber and Roberta took a look at the wound. “Hold still.” Roberta pulled a small flask of brown liquid out of her side pouch and poured it over the wound. Evelyn winced; the liquid stung like hell and made the wound feel like it was burning. “Sorry, I’m not a great medicine man.” There wasn’t anything around to bandage the leg, so it would have to stay open to the air. Unfortunately, despite being blown in two, the child’s upper half was crawling toward them. “Berserker!” The Servant answered the call and beheaded the corpse. This halted its progress but didn’t stop it from squirming.

At this point both Servants knew what they were up against. “Undead”, Saber proclaimed, an angry expression clouding his face. The dust was still thick around them, but they could see shadows begin to peak through them, getting closer every second. “Master, lean on me. We need to retreat.”

Roberta stopped him. “No, I’ll help her move. You two have to cover us.” She gave Evelyn a shoulder to lean on, and the two of them began moving. Saber was ahead of them, ending each corpse’s second life with a swing of his holy sword, while Berserker deftly jumped about behind them, ravaging the ghouls to pieces. The two Servants cut down anything that got too close as they escaped the plaza. As they made their way out, they encountered another new figure, apart from the rest.

The undead were swaying from side to side and sometimes dragged limbs, but this figure walked upright, and appeared to be carrying something. It lifted its arm and pointed the object at them. Roberta, moving out of instinct, whipped out another flask and broke it on the ground. The black liquid inside splashed onto the dirt and Roberta poured her mana into it, creating a chest high wall both girls could use as cover.

Her instincts proved to be prescient, as the new enemy opened gunfire upon them. “Mom!” Berserker broke from his fight with the horde and rushed over the wall. He threw a fair strike, which was deflected handily but managed to push this mystery opponent away. While she still had the enemy in her sight, she quickly threw two more potions at it. In stark contrast to the specific previous ones she had used, these appeared to be simple unstable concoctions that worked as explosives. She was stocked with plenty in her luggage but always kept a few handy just in case.

Berserker was able to get a good look at their new attacker. “He’s a magus!”

That meant a Servant was probably nearby. Roberta thought quickly. “Saber, take Evelyn and find Samuel. I’ll take care of this.”

Evelyn was quick to protest, but her wound still stopped her from doing much. “No! I can’t leave you here alone.” She stumbled.

Roberta smirked at her courage. “You’re not. I have Berserker with me.” She nodded to Saber and he understood. “I’ll see you back at the hotel. Now go!” With a wink and a smile, she also added “Don’t forget to pack the hotel soaps and shampoos, ok?” Saber picked up his Master and leaped out of the scene. To cover them, Berserker attacked once again. After the two exchanged a few more blows, Berserker was back beside his Master.

The dust had finally completely settled, so they could finally make out their enemy. He was a brown skinned man, head completely shaven, and a serious demeanor. Under a sleeveless shirt he wore a bulletproof vest which had been altered to have more padding, making it more like body armor. He had forest camouflage pants and black army boots, completing the guerilla fighter look. Around his leather belt he carried two revolvers, a set of hand grenades, and a massive machete bordering on a longsword strapped to his side. He was further armed with an automatic rifle and had a sawed off shotgun strapped to his back. There was a cross of bandoliers on his chest to supply his arsenal. Along both his sleeveless arms ran a multitude of tattoos varying in design and religious significance. He sneered at his enemy once he had gotten a good look. “¿Te pondrás en mi camino, Maestro? [ _ Would you stand in my way, Master? _ ]”

His accent wasn’t from around, the woman could tell, even though he spoke spanish. Roberta answered in kind. “Eres mi enemigo, es obvio.[ _ You’re our enemy; it’s only natural. _ ]” Before they really got into it, there was one thing she wanted clear. “Berserker, you can’t use your mist right now.” She only had to whisper for him to hear. “We don’t know if anyone else is still around, and we can’t risk any more innocents.” She was pretty certain this lunatic in front of her had caused the explosion nearby, and she expected anyone who had survived might stumble into the vicinity of their duel. Berserker gave an enthusiastic nod and prepared for battle. It was just the two of them versus a man armed like a small army and a whole mess of reanimated corpses.

The man reloaded his rifle and raised it, taking aim. “Very well, I’ll deal with you first.”

***

  
  
  
  


Kaito and Samuel found themselves in a hasty retreat, attacking all along the way. The undead would jump in from time to time, trying to herd them away from their destination. It was nothing two pyromancers couldn’t handle, but the numbers seemed to be never-ending, and would swarm them from all sides. Truthfully, their fire seemed of little use; the corpses kept moving even after all the flesh was seared from their bones. They would need to reduce even the skeletons to ashes to stop them, but fire of that strength and magnitude risked some serious danger to the city.

Right now they were caught in the middle of the street, surrounded ahead and behind by the horde. Luckily, Caster brought her hands together in a clap, she had an idea. “Aha! I’ve got it!” Both men looked at her, confused, as she made some gestures around each of them before taking a step back. “Aaand, it’s done.” The two pyromancers looked at each other, not noticing anything different, yet the enemy suddenly stopped. “Look behind you, fellas.” The pair realized what she was talking about immediately; behind them, Caster had created doubles of all of them. Honestly, it was like standing in front of a mirror. “Alright, let’s go!” Caster yelled, and that was all the signal they needed. The doubles headed in one direction as the originals went the opposite way and luckily, the enemy pursued the doubles. Caster directed them through the back door of the building and another group of doubles broke off from them and headed to a different direction.

Their escape went on like this, with more and more clones being created to confuse and divide the enemy horde. With such a distraction they were eventually able to make it back to the hotel. “Master, we are in the lobby. Come quickly!” Assassin spoke telepathically to Samuel as the group rushed inside and came upon a lobby filled with wounded people. Apparently, it was the biggest building they could find. Some paramedics and policemen were here too, trying to help the wounded and to take charge of the situation. Assassin and Saber drew the group’s attention and they found Evelyn being treated by paramedics. Kaito looked worried. “What happened to you?”

“We were ambushed by the enemy…” Saber explained the whole situation to them and how Robeta had stayed behind to fight the enemy Master. With everyone caught up, they needed to figure out what to do next.

The group looked to Samuel. “Assassin, go find Roberta and assist her in any way you can, but don’t show yourself.” The Servant nodded in agreement and disappeared. “Kaito, you and Evelyn stay here, gather our things and find us a car.”

“What are you going to do?” asked his pupil.

“I’m going out there to help Roberta. Not that I think she’ll need the extra help; she’s a tough one.” He winked at his student. “Keep your guard up out there and your Servant close. There might be someone else out there.” They shared a look, shook hands, and Samuel made his way outside. Kaito helped Evelyn to her room, and they began packing as fast as they could.

***

  
  


Berserker was engaged in close combat with the enemy Master. Though he seemed a normal human, the man was surprisingly able to keep up with a Servant. Berserker’s own Master was busy fending off the raised corpses, leaving him in an exclusive duel with the heavily armed man. It was maddening too that no matter what he did, the Servant couldn’t get the upper hand. Not only was the large man very efficiently dodging and parrying Berserker’s attacks, but he was easily able to back up and use his arsenal at any time. This man moved faster than any human should, according to the Servant.

Meanwhile, Roberta couldn’t do much to keep the corpses at bay, and she had to micromanage what potions she was using with respect for the future. This combined with her lack of any other weapons meant she couldn’t be any more help to Berserker than as a decoy. This was the reality of the fight for a good while, but then there was a shift. Corpses began falling over, seemingly at random. It took Roberta a few moments, but she surmised that this was fire support from Assassin, who was probably holed up in a sniping position. When headshots proved ineffective in stopping them, the corpses were instead being kneecapped to at least slow down or even incapacitate them. It was enough to allow Roberta to assist her Servant. She knew what she needed to do now, and observed their movements, readying herself for just the right moment. It was just after the Vox Master jumped back and got ready to take a shot with his rifle. Roberta threw her flask and it shattered on the ground right before he landed, and so he ended up landing in the spilled liquid covering the ground. It was the same kind of potion she had used to create cover before; this time, the wall raised up and covered the man’s leg, enclosing it within.

Having lost his momentum, the man looked down and saw his foot trapped by a wall. He looked up just in time to see Berserker about to attack him. Knowing what needed to be done, he got ready to catch the Servant midair and was able to throw him away without injury. His counter was fast enough that neither Roberta nor Berserker could react. In order to free his leg, the man readied his shotgun and was about to blast away the wall of black rock. It was at this moment the Assassin took the shot. Unfortunately, the vest caught the bullet and he only received the force of the shot, which knocked him to the ground and wrenched his ankle around. He knew he didn’t have time to feel the pain though, so he once again took aim and blasted off the constraints, freeing his maimed foot. Aware now that he needed to retreat, he pulled some grenades from his belt and threw them all around, releasing a thick smoke screen. From there he was able to escape unseen, out of under their noses and even out of Assassin’s scope.

*

It was when Kaito looked for an escape vehicle that he noticed another growing issue. He and Evelyn had decided to stick together when they left the hotel. They had to keep one eye on the amassing horde, and another on any Servant activity. However, the thing that nobody else had seemed to notice was the fire. He had heard about an explosion from Saber, but he hadn’t mentioned that the fire had managed to spread to nearly every building in the area. Kaito knew that for the sake of the remaining innocents, the fire should be stopped.

The two of them and their Servants had managed to find a truck big enough for the whole group and all of their luggage. Luckily enough for them, even the keys were already in the truck. Things were looking up, so Kaito looked to Saber. “Saber, I need your help with something.” Everyone turned to Kaito. “You’ve obviously seen the fire.” They had been running around the area for awhile now, so it was hard to miss it. “There’s a line of connected buildings that seems untouched so far. If we don’t stop it from spreading, it will get to the hotel, and everyone inside.”

Evelyn was quick to protest. “But we need to get out of here. The firefighters are on it, I’m sure.”

Kaito shook his head gravely. “This whole area is swarming with those things. It’s going to be too long before any help arrives.” He pointed to a couple of the buildings; small buildings covered in flames. “The fire is coming from that direction. If we can knock these buildings down, it won’t be able to spread any further.”

He spoke with such determination and enthusiasm, that everyone immediately went into action. “I’ll go check those buildings and make sure they are empty.” Caster offered and disappeared before anyone could react.

Saber had only one thing to say. “It’ll take a short while for me to gather enough energy for this.”

His Master spoke while rumbling through her bags. “Don’t worry about that. Kaito and I will cover you. I have everything I need now for my magecraft.”

Kaito had gotten the truck running. “I’m sure those things will swarm us in no time, so we have to be quick.”

*******************

  
  


One half of the group was focusing on the fire, and the other half was busy trying to catch up. Nobody seemed to be looking for the enemy that had initially attacked them. Giving the man a chance to treat his wounded leg after barely escaping with his life. After getting away from them he had holed up inside the basement of one of the untouched businesses. 

“Shouldn’t you be out there fighting?” Another figure appeared from the shadows. “What kind of soldier runs away from a battle just when it gets a little difficult?” It was a young man with blond hair, his yellow teeth showing from a condescending smile.

“Don’t sass me, Archer. Shouldn’t  _ you _ be capturing the girl?” He set his ankle back into place, gritting his teeth as a loud cracking sound erupted from his foot. He then checked his vest.

“This is a joint effort, Salazar. You keep the rest of the group busy, and I can do my work.” The Servant had had misgivings with this plan from the beginning and was annoyed that nobody seemed to want to listen to him. Now, as he was being proven right, he still had to try to salvage a plan where the enemy outnumbered him and one of his partners was already wounded. “I wasn’t sure if the old fart was nuts when he came up with this plan. But seeing it in action…”

Salazar took off the vest; it was essentially useless after stopping the enemy Assassin’s bullet. “His Grace knows what’s best, always. Be thankful I went out of my way and ordered Assassin to keep an eye on the girl through all this.” Unfortunately, he was unable to see what his Servant could see without using a Command Seal. “Assassin, let me see through your eyes.” A Seal faded from his hand and he closed his eyes. “She is at the main street intersection. The undead have them surrounded but it appears they’ve fortified the area with barriers and debris to keep them at bay.” He could also see their Saber intensely concentrating, probably trying to power up for an attack. Maybe his Noble Phantasm? It would be one way to wipe out all the undead in one blow. “She is with the boy, but I don’t see his Servant around. Their Saber is there, but he seems preoccupied.”

Vox Archer was still annoyed, but at this point he couldn’t shirk his duty. “Let’s go then, while they are still separated.” He prepared his weapons, a pair of revolvers, and put on his long coat. As they prepared to re-engage the enemy, he noticed his partner was about to go back out without any of his extra protection. Despite this, he abstained from objecting. After all, if the situation went totally balls-up, he could go on alone.

***

  
  
  
  


Saber was almost ready. Evelyn had put up several layers of barriers to block the advance of the horde through any nooks and crannies they could squeeze through. Kaito meanwhile had moved some of the cars and was able to blow up the debris to block the main street. Still, every cavity was just getting swarmed by the monsters, and it was all the young pyromancer could do to blast them away with his fire. All they were waiting for was Caster to give them the all-clear.

As Saber could only look upon the two teens doing all the hard labor while he just gathered mana into his sword, Caster landed deftly in the middle of them. “All the buildings between here and the next two blocks are vacated.”

With nothing else needing to be said, Saber stood up and his sword began to glow with power, creating a beacon of light in the city. “ _Coronation Sword of the French Kings,_ _Joyeuse_!” With his sword lifted up into the air, Saber let a vertical swing drop on top of the building in front of him. The wave of energy nearly deafened the Masters, and the huge flash of light blinded them. Dust rose into the air where there was previously embers. When the smoke and dust had settled, the entire row of buildings was no more. More importantly, there was no more fire. It appeared that Saber’s attack had completely suffocated the blaze that had covered the town. It was far more than they were expecting, but it was welcomed nonetheless.

In addition, while the undead had used this distraction to try to break the defense, the group had received extra help from afar. Corpses again were dropping one after the other and they could see Samuel and Roberta running up to them. “Berserker!” With his Master shouting, the Servant appeared and smashed right through several more monsters, rounding up the remaining enemy force. Thus all four Masters met inside the small fort, each making sure that the rest were fine and unhurt. “Well, Saber did a wonderful job telling us where you were. It was like a big lighthouse.”

Before they could celebrate and prepare to escape, they found themselves under heavy fire coming from the main street. The enemy Master Salazar had reappeared, and was now moving against them all alone. A flurry of bullets went past them, and he stopped only to reload before firing again. Despite being heavily outnumbered, he was able to pin them down behind their cover. Fate appeared to be with the enemy; Salazar hit them from outside their Assassin’s range, and Evelyn was too busy holding up her barriers, with Saber protecting her. Caster and Kaito were unable to get a good look through the rubble, and the other two Masters were less concealed and trying to find cover. This left only Berserker unhindered, so his Master sprang into action. “You all wait here. I’m taking him down myself!”

Berserker adeptly dodged the barrage of bullets and closed the gap once again. This time, the enemy faced Berserker with his own machete drawn. Still fast and strong, perhaps even more than earlier, the enemy Master was managing to keep up with Berserker’s movements. This no longer phased Roberta, who was taking cover alongside Samuel while coming up with a plan. “He is using some kind of time magic to accelerate his moves. And he’s being smart about it, only using it for less than a second to conserve energy, and to mask his tricks.” He was using it mainly for counters and parries, where each reaction was the difference between life and death. “But I’ll like to see him dodge this.” Roberta palmed a small vial this time, not a flask, filled with red powder.

While he was busy with Berserker, Salazar caught the woman in a flanking route running toward the fight. He prepared to intercept, but he needed to get a single moment of reprieve first. The man got his chance by throwing the Servant out in a swift reversal maneuver, leaving him free to reach for his revolver and aim at the smug alchemist. However, Roberta had already closed the distance and in the same moment threw the vial toward him. As the vial sailed through the air, he fired two bullets. One passed right by the vial and completely missed Roberta as well, the other smashed right through the vial, shattering it.

The vial itself had been destroyed before hitting the guerilla fighter, but that was close enough for the red powder to take effect. The powder created a red cloud that quickly spread to its intended target. In retrospect, it might have been better if he hadn’t walked right through the cloud, but he wanted to confirm his shots, and the powder was obstructing his view. His hands and face were covered as he approached Roberta lying on the ground, mostly unscathed. As he looked down and prepared to finish her off, his skin suddenly felt itchy. Then the minor itch erupted into a burning sensation. And it wasn’t just a sensation; his skin was actually burning, sizzling and smoking like he had caught fire. His bare arms and face had been dusted in the mystery substance, and now the pain was to such a degree that he could do nothing but fall to his knees and hold his face. The more he touched his face though, the worse the feeling got. He couldn’t even scream for fear of getting the horrible dust in his mouth.

As it turns out, Roberta’s vial had been filled with an alchemical substance that reacted upon contact with the skin, covering the target in fast-acting chemical burns. Now it was only a matter of Berserker finishing him off. The Servant composed himself and prepared to finish his opponent, only for Salazar to push through the pain and grabbed him by the neck with both hands. Berserker was still armed though, and responded in kind with a gut stab.

Despite everything, his grip did not weaken for even a second. “You know what HIs Grace told me before sending me on this mission?” Berserker twisted the dagger in his belly, which made the man spit up blood. “He told me to give him one…” He continued to tighten his grip, forcing the boy Servant to gasp for air. “That no matter how badly it went, that I only needed to kill one of you… and I have no intention to disobey those ord-” He was cut off by Roberta. She had picked up the gun he discarded before and shot the man in the back. This at last freed Berserker from his grip.

With the menace defeated once and for all, the whole group took a much needed breather. Berserker and Roberta checked each other’s injuries, and everyone else slowly peeked out from where they had been taking cover. It seemed that the first battle was over, and they had come out on top.

They had missed something though. While they had taken out an enemy Master, they had not confirmed the whereabouts of his Servant. Out of nowhere, to the surprise of everyone there, Vox Assassin appeared. The red robed skeleton, as silent and enigmatic as ever, had approached the fallen soldier. It was then they realized Salazar was still alive. His face and arms were heavily burned, and he was covered in cuts and bruises, he had a large wound in his abdomen, and his back was filled with bullet holes. Yet he still lived, and his Servant knelt down beside him and held his head up.

In that moment, as they were close, the people closer to the pair could see that in stark contrast to the skeletal monster they had yet seen, Vox Assassin appeared to be a young woman, with facial makeup reminiscent of the Day of the Dead. She looked upon her Master’s wounds, not with disappointment or malice, but with a deep caring, and lightly touched his cheek. It seemed he beckoned her closer, and she tilted her head forward so he could speak into her ear.

They could see that he spoke to his Servant, but couldn’t make out what he said. “What is he saying, Mom?” Berserker asked Roberta. The sight was perplexing for the Servant, not helped by the language barrier.

Roberta could make it out, and had a worried look on her face. “He is praying… He thinks his Servant is literally Death and he is praying to her.” With the way things were going, the Servant may have very well been the personification of Death. “We cannot let that Servant be.” She was about to order Berserker to attack, when the enemy Assassin moved again, leaving her Master on the ground and abandoning her human form again, standing tall and close to them. And it wasn’t that they allowed her to close the distance; she had made the leap in an instant, in the blink of an eye.

Before anyone could respond further, the Servant began screaming. It was a heart wrenching screech that paralyzed all of them. All the Masters and Servants alike could do nothing but cover their ears, which hardly made a difference. The Servant’s wail was so strong they began to feel their eardrums tearing and bleeding. Even up in his high position, their Assassin was unable to react, and it was all he could do to maintain his sightline on the location. Every one of their Servants was trying to deal with the sound, to make her stop. It was later recalled as only a few seconds, but everyone there would attest to it feeling like hours.

And then Caster acted. She moved seemingly unhindered across the battlefield, walked right up to the enemy Assassin, and placed a single hand on her face. All of a sudden, the screaming stopped, and all they could see was Caster with her hand covering the enemy’s face. “Anybody care to lend me a hand?” They were all so shocked, so surprised by Caster’s endurance against the attack that it took them all several seconds to respond. It was Saber that eventually stepped forward and made one heavy strike on the enemy Servant, followed by a precise attack by Berserker with his daggers. As Vox Assassin finally dissolved, all of the reanimated corpses fell to the ground, some too turning to dust as they collapsed.

Now, of course, the battle was won. All the enemies had been dealt with, the town was, more or less, saved from total destruction, and nobody from their side had been lost. Kaito especially was beaming with pride at his Servant as he ran up and complimented her. “That was amazing, Caster! How did you do that?”

The magician was sporting a huge smile and nodded along with all his many praises, but when she saw Kaito waiting for an actual answer she decided to speak. “Uhm, I really can’t hear you right now, Master.” Confused, Kaito checked her ears. Both of them were bleeding at the moment. “It was easier this way to get around that scream.” She had pierced her own eardrums and the blood helped muffle the noise. Kaito really had to hand it to her: no matter how unsettling it was, that was a clever thing to do on the fly.

At this point they shouldn’t have been surprised, but the fight still was not over. Someone else attacked from the shadows. The group heard six shots being fired, but couldn’t pinpoint the origin. The shots hit Berserker in quick succession. One in each limb and two in the base of the stomach to keep him from moving. Roberta quickly dashed to check on him, and the rest scanned for the attacker when they heard a voice. “Shouldn’t go dropping your guard like that.” Another man came from the other side of the street, opposite to where Salazar had appeared before. “I’ll cut this rodeo short; I’m Vox Archer, g’day ladies.” The Servant was holding Evelyn on her knees, with one hand at the back of her head. This made his shots all the more puzzling, as Berserker was way out of range of typical revolver fire and in either case Roberta and several other bodies were in between this new opponent and his target. Yet he hit every shot all the same.

Evelyn was able to get a good long look at him from her current position. “You!” It was the man from yesterday. The one who had returned her purse to her near all the taxi cabs. “Let go of me!” She struggled to break free as her anger grew. She had known there was something off about the man yesterday, yet she had said nothing.

“You let her go!” This was the joint reaction from pretty much the entirety of their group, but Samuel actually stepped forward with his hands out, trying to placate the Servant. “Don’t do something you will regret, boy.”

Now that comment in particular bothered the enemy Archer a great deal. He scowled deeply. Sure, he looked young in his current form, but the condescension to a man of his renown? It was enough to make his blood boil. “Eh! Was that a threat, asshole?”

Samuel began walking with purpose toward the enemy. “What if it was? What are you going to do about it?” His bravado was not unnecessary or misplaced. His Servant had a real chance to take this enemy out. He just needed to trick the enemy into backing up ever so slightly. “Not brave enough to face us without a hostage?”

And lo and behold, the enemy took the bait. “What, you think you’re some sorta hotshot, facing a Servant head on?” Archer released Evelyn. “You stay right there and don’t go runnin’ from me.” He holstered his revolvers and prepared to face Samuel.

Wanting this to go down just like any good Western, Samuel decided to follow along and kept his hand at his waist. “You know I don’t need a gun for this, right?” He smirked, again taunting his opponent. “I can put a blazing hole in between your eyebrows just using my fingers.” To prove his point, he ignited the tip of his fingers on his right hand.

Silence fell upon the whole area. Samuel’s companions knew better than to intervene with Evelyn’s life on the line, and the old pyromancer who led them just waited patiently for his Servant to take the shot. For their Assassin, the angle was terrible, and he was having a hard time just lining up a clear shot, and he worried for all the posturing that this might just end in a duel, which Samuel was hoping to avoid. Archer still remained motionless, his eyes locked on his enemy, ready to end him at any moment. Getting an idea, Samuel began walking to his side, hoping that Vox Archer would do the same. Again, luckily, Archer copied him and they began moving in a clockwise circle. It was something so simple, yet it gave the pyromancer the upper hand. “I have the shot. Just keep him there.” Assassin relayed into Samuel’s mind.

With victory seeming assured and hope in his heart, Samuel smiled and stood still. But it was Archer that took the first shot. Not at the magus in front of him, though. He shot up and to the left, at what looked like a ridiculous angle. A moment later, Archer began laughing, to the dismay of everyone else there. “Please. I’m the best when it comes to catching cheaters, asshole, and your little bluff? Paper thin at best.” Samuel could only stare at him in silent rage while the rest of the group prepared themselves. “Some ruined building nearby, if I’m correct, and I always am. Why don’t you tell me, though, if I hit my mark?” Samuel needed to be sure his Servant was fine anyway, although, the lack of any returned fire should have been enough indication. The magus tried to communicate with Assassin but got no response. His expression was all Archer needed. “Of course I did! My aim is second to none.” His laugh filled the street. “That Servant must be half way back into the Throne a’ Heroes as we speak!” As his laughter died down, Archer began walking away, calling over his shoulder. “That sure sounds fair, doesn’t it? An Assassin for an Assassin. I’ll tell the old fart Salazar did it.” He walked beside Evelyn, who was still kneeling on the ground, face full of disgust. “Keep an eye over your shoulder, girlie. I won’t be the only one that’ll be coming after ya’.” And he disappeared.

They all knew. They were all prepared for this when they signed up for the war. It was a  **war** , after all, and wars had casualties. They knew there would be battles, and at any time, someone could die. But to have defeat thrust upon them, just when they thought they were in the clear? It hit them hard. The bullets that had hit Berserker had all gone straight through his body, and he bled heavily. It took a lot of effort and time just to stabilize and close his wounds, and even when that was done, he would still require a lot of rest from here on. Kaito and Samuel ended up finding another vehicle to make their escape and it was about 5 miles outside of town that they stopped and took a moment to reflect. Half of them hadn’t eaten anything all day and they had three wounded to deal with. They had encountered a paramedic on the way out of town to check on Caster’s ears; luckily, no surgery was needed, just a lot of rest and some mana from her Master. Evelyn was a bit of a wreck after everything that had happened. 

In the time it took for them to get treatment, find something to eat, and round up every other loose end, they weren’t even across the border by nightfall. Needless to say, this was far past their original timeframe.

Overall, they had been badly hurt after taking on only three real enemies.

This was the Holy Grail War.

****************

  
  
  
  


They soon made it to El Paso, Texas, and rented a couple of rooms in a highway motel and all but collapsed onto their beds. All except Samuel, who took the task of checking in on everyone and also checking in with the convoy around the Grail. He started in his own room. “Kaito, how are you feeling after all of that?”

“Alright, I suppose. It’s not like I was wounded or anything. If anything, I’m just exhausted.” He left a long pause as he stared downwards. “What about you? You lost Assassin after all.”

His teacher brushed the sentiment aside before changing the subject. “Don’t worry about that. Evelyn told me it was your idea to stop that fire.” It was something they hadn’t really needed to do, but Kaito had worried about it nonetheless. Samuel shrugged. “You did good there. Who knows what would’ve happened to those people if you hadn’t been thinkin’ about them.” It might have been part of a larger plan on the enemy’s part, or merely a distraction, but his student had done what he did without thinking about the why. “How’s Caster?”

“She is recovering right now. She was amazing out there, right?” He looked up at his teacher, beaming. He seemed so proud.

That made Samuel chuckle. “Keep your eyes open, I’m sure she’s still keeping some surprises up her sleeve, perhaps literally.” He stood up to leave. “Anyway, remember to train a little before going to sleep. I’m gonna check on Roberta and the girl.” As he walked out, to his surprise, Roberta was outside her room, leaning on the wall, having a smoke before bed. He leaned on the wall beside her and tried to force a smile. “Hey, how’s it going on your side?”

His friend had an angry look and seemed deep in thought. She took a puff of her cigarette and answered. “Evelyn is resting, do don’t you dare wake her up. She had it worst today.” He wordlessly gesture toward her cigarette and she complied, passing it to him.

The older magus took a hit of the cigarette before he looked Roberta in the face and gently moved it to the side to get a look at the cut along the side of her face. Even a millimeter to the right and she wouldn’t be here. At least he could take solace in the maker of that cut being dead. “What about you and little Berserker?”

Roberta sighed, thinking about how to answer. “You know, I just realized, Berserker has not once complained about his wounds.” They had patched him up the best they could, and he was still going to be out for awhile, but the child never once had as much as a whimper. “I don’t know if that’s good or bad, to be honest.” They stayed there for a while longer, sharing the cigarette to its end. There was more to say, that encounter with the enemy Archer left a sour taste in their mouth that was not going to go away, but they chose instead to remain silent. “Have you heard anything from the Association or the Professor?”

“Nothing from either. I left a message as soon as we got here, but I haven’t heard anything from the higher ups.” This worried him more than he let on. “Maybe we should tell the kids they’re free to go. I’m sure they’ll have their share of doubts after today.” Better to let them go while they still had the chance.

His friend laughed at the thought. “Says the guy who lost his Servant.”

Samuel showed his Command Seals, to make a point. “I’m still in the game. I’ll have another Assassin by this hour tomorrow.”

Roberta gave those words a second thought. “I don’t think you get second chances at Servants.”

“I do.”

Thankful at the excuse to smile, Roberta mused. “You know, I’ve heard of the bounty hunter ‘Dragon’s Breath’ and how ruthless he is. What do you think they’d say if they knew how worried you are about those two kids?”

Samuel chuckled back. “You’re one to talk. I know how much you like playing mom with Berserker. And that’s not even mentioning the way you’ve taken to the girl.” Honestly, he knew this was true for both of them. Looking after their young companions came like second nature to them, and to be honest, there wasn’t anything wrong with that. He smiled to himself as the motel manager came walking toward them.

Apparently, Samuel had a call waiting back at the counter. Both Masters made their way inside and Samuel took the phone. It was from the Association, and there was a whole report to go through. Samuel listened for a long time before putting down the phone, then turned to Roberta. It looked as if he had aged a year from the expression on his face. “Wake up the kids. It’s bad news.”

***

  
  
  
  


“The convoy that was transporting the Holy Grail was attacked. What’s worse, Professor Faraday was killed during the attack and there is no sign of the Grail.” This was the news Samuel gathered everyone to convey. Everyone reacted as expected. At this point they were almost numb to any more bad news. Things only seemed to get worse with every passing moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're enjoying the story, comment and tell me if you do!


	4. Chased By Wolves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I believe this is the concept I had the most issues for this story, shifting narrators, if I could pull it off or will people like it. Certainly can't back down now so I hope you enjoy it.

Samuel’s group arrived at the scene of the attack, all of them tired and running only on coffee and a total of six hours of sleep between them. None of them knew exactly what they were expected to find; the Association had already swept the place and reported nothing of note. It shouldn’t be any different for them.

The convoy had been attacked just outside of Austin, Texas, en route to Houston. The section of the freeway involved had been closed, cleared, and cleaned up by the Association. Obviously this was typical cover-up work, common to many magical activities and by extension any Grail Wars. According to the report, the truck carrying the Grail was knocked off the road, the wreckage had already been removed, and any bodies of the fallen had been taken away, so only one question lingered. “Hey, teacher, what  _ exactly _ are we doing here?” Kaito spoke his mind.

The old pyromancer let out an exaggerated sigh. “Gathering clues.”

The heat, combined with the facts, did nothing to calm the boy down. He turned his head upwards and threw his arms out in frustration. “But there’s nothing here!”

“That’s because you’re not looking hard enough!” Samuel snapped right back. “We aren’t allowed to leave until the Association gets here to relieve us, so we have to wait.”

At least they had brought something to cool off while they waited in the oppressive heat. Deciding to relieve himself before his mood got worse, Kaito went back to the car to get a drink, and spoke to Evelyn while he was there. “How’s your leg?”

Evelyn had been sitting in the car. “Better. It still hurts when I walk, though.” While she wanted to help, the others had insisted she stay off her wounded leg. Hence, her Servant was checkin in her stead. “What are we going to do now, Kai?” With the Grail now missing, the situation seemed rather hopeless.

He looked at the girl and then down at the ground, defeated. “I don’t know….” After a moment, he perked up, knowing he couldn’t leave it at that. “But don’t think I’m just going to let them have their way!”

That, at least, put a smile on her face. “How is your teacher?” She asked. The man had lost his Servant, after all. She was concerned.

“He is getting on my nerves. He just lost his drinking buddy! Doesn’t give him the right to treat me like that.” Something caught his eye. “Eve, look.” It was the Association, arriving in another convoy, this one smaller than the previous one: just two cars.

As the new convoy arrived, they all flocked around it. From out of the front car came two men, one old and the other much younger. To anyone else, they could pass as grandfather and grandson.

It was Samuel that first recognized the old man, embracing him by the arm. “You old shaman, you made it!” They shook hands as old friends would.

Roberta approached the two. “It’s been a long time.” She smiled at him and he nodded in kind.

Samuel put an arm around the old man’s shoulder as he introduced the newcomer. “Kids, this is Red Harvest: bounty hunter, magus, shaman, code breaker, and medicine man. The boy is my student, heir to the title, and Master of Caster, Kaito Horne. And she is Evelyn Robicheaux, student of the Clock Tower, and Master of Saber.” The group acquainted themselves with handshakes and greetings.

Red Harvest then presented the other man. “This man is my Servant, Rider.” The Servant silently gestured in greeting but was otherwise non expressive. “Now, onto the task at hand. Tell me what you know about the attack.”

It was Samuel who conversed with Red Harvest mostly. “Well… No sign of the Grail in any way. A whole convoy full of magi and a Servant wiped out in a couple minutes? Seems obvious it’s the work of multiple Servants.”

The old shaman thought for a moment and then spoke to his Servant. “Rider, take a look around. I’m sure there’s something you can find.” He, along with Samuel, followed the Servant to the scene.

This left the teenagers and Roberta to catch some rest, and escape the sun. “So, how do you and Mister Samuel know that shaman?”

Roberta took a sip from her newly acquired drink before answering Evelyn’s question. “He is an old acquaintance of my mother, in fact, but I haven’t seen him in a long, long time. Samuel is the one that has worked alongside him before.” There wasn’t much more she could say about him; as she said, she hadn’t seen him in years. “I heard he retired a few years back. I wonder what made him accept the job?” She asked aloud, though she already knew the answer.

***

The detective group had made it a distance from the others. “So where did you come in from anyway?” Samuel asked his comrade.

“The camp back in Houston. Lancer and her Master are waiting there as we speak. We should all have a meeting after we finish here.” The shaman answered.

Samuel looked at the Servant, who was kneeling on the ground, and looked to be moving dirt around. “Do you think it’ll take him long?”

Red Harvest chuckled at the skepticism. “Rider is a great tracker. Give him a few minutes and he’ll have something for us.” 

Within a few minutes, true to his Master’s word, Rider addressed them. “Well, the battle happened hours ago. Most of the clues and tracks were erased by the wind, the sun, and the cleanup crew, but there are some things that caught my attention.” They moved to where the truck carrying the Grail crashed. “What little tracks I found are from our side. These kinds of boots are the same ones the soldiers from the Association use.” He signaled to some boot marks around the dirt. “These, however, I’d say were done by this shoe.” Rider reached behind one of the rocks and took out a brown shoe, covered in dust. Its size and shape was exactly the same as the tracks he spoke of.

“That’s the professor’s shoe.” Samuel was able to identify them easily enough; it was a pretty distinctive shoe: brown and green flannel. “Master of our Archer.”

With this new information, Rider had more to say. “I see no sign of his Servant, then. He probably stayed incorporeal through the whole ordeal. That or he was killed right in the initial hit.” Rider moved a few meters away from the wreckage. “That said, this footprint must have been made by a Servant. Of this I have no doubt.” He showed them a huge paw print in the ground. It was a bit faded thanks to the wind, but it was still clear enough to show as an animal track. A canine to be more specific.

“I never met him, but I don’t think our Archer could have left this footprint.” Samuel seemed at a loss. “ Could it have been a wolf or a coyote? Maybe it was attracted by the smell of blood.”

“No animal native to this region could leave a track this big. Rider, what about the Master? Did you find anything else that might help us find him?” The shaman asked.

Rider shook his head and Samuel groaned loudly. “However, I found something that shouldn’t be here…” He moved them back to where the truck had landed, near where they had found the discarded shoe. “These footprints were made by a child. This child started with the Professor and moved away from the battlefield.” There was a set of tracks for a distance, but they faded as the path went on.

“Do we know the Professor didn’t make it?” Red Harvest asked, hoping this information would help.

“The report said they found his body parts scattered all over the area.” Samuel sadly reported. “Well, they found a ton of body parts from many of the guards too. Never enough to put a whole body together, but enough that they could identify the total losses.”

Taking all this into consideration, Rider turned to Samuel. “Did they find child limbs?”

“Every death was from our side, and there was nothing out of the ordinary in the remains.” Either he hadn’t received the full truth from the report, or that was all there was. “And I don’t think the Association would hide a civilian casualty from us. They’d have no reason for it.”

At this point Kaito had wandered over and had been listening for a few minutes. “Could it be the Grail?” The other men stared at the teenager, clearly confused. “Look, I’m not saying the Grail sprouted legs and walked away. I’m just…” The more he thought, the more he realized he couldn’t explain. “I’m just throwing it out there!”

The idea did make everyone think. It sounded crazy, but it was the only reasonable explanation. Not that the Grail had legs, per se, but perhaps something else was carrying the Grail. “Wait, how do we know the Grail wasn’t taken by the enemy again?” Samuel spoke up. All they had been told was that the Grail was missing. Not taken, but missing. The two other men realized this was a valid point. How did the Association know the Grail wasn’t in enemy hands? That would seem to be the immediate assumption, yet they were at the very least being purposefully vague.

At this point you might be wondering: “What happened during the attack?” It was a chaotic event. One minute, we were rolling down the highway toward a safehouse to meet up with everyone, the next, the whole world spun. I think something had smashed into the side of our truck and knocked it clear off the road. It was Archer that helped us out of the truck, and the battle was already in full swing once I stood up and got my bearings.

It was loud and dark; it was impossible to make out our attackers, but I could hear growling and howling from every direction. In all the madness I could faintly hear the Professor screaming at me to run away. Before I consciously decided to run, my body had already taken the order and I was moving, faster than I thought possible. I ran away from the fight, too afraid to look back. As I ran into the woods, the only thing I could hear were the screams.

The first time I had the presence of mind to stop for a rest was about an hour later. My fatigue hit me like a ton of bricks once I stopped moving. All the effort I had made had been pushed forward by the fear I felt. Now I could think about what to do next.

Staying in the wilderness wasn’t an option. Apart from the clothes I wore, I had nothing else on my person, and these clothes were not close to appropriate for this extended forest walk. I was wearing a one piece white and pink striped dress and a red hooded jacket. My shoes were already covered in mud, and my socks had become encrusted in muck. At least I wouldn’t suffer from the cold, I thought, or at least hoped.

The only thing I knew for certain, and what helped me come up with a plan, was our destination. We had been traveling to a city to the west, so it stood to reason that if I kept going west, I’d eventually arrive in that town. Unfortunately, it was night. I couldn’t see past my nose, and it would be hours before I’d be able to see anything naturally.

Good thing I had kept up with my magus training. I was able to create some sort of small lantern by taking one of my hairs and making it into a bird. The small bird would fly around me, illuminating my path ahead. The only problem was I couldn’t keep it around for very long; after fifteen minutes or so I’d have to make another one. A minor inconvenience in a situation full of more concerning problems.

After five or six lights, I began to grow hungry. At first it was easy to ignore; it’s not like I had time to forage for food. But as time went on I couldn’t fight it anymore. And then, almost as if nature herself was taking pity on me, a strong wind blew my bird away from me, into a nearby bush. In my efforts to retrieve it, I noticed the bush was filled with berries. Unable to stop myself, and not thinking about potential consequences, I grabbed a handful and ate them.

Before I could continue, another weird thing happened. It was as if the dirt around my foot was growing, like something was crawling up my ankle, grabbing a hold of it. As I looked down I noticed it wasn’t so much the earth itself that had trapped me, but a wood vine. Before I could so much as tug at my leg, the vine yanked me by the ankle and slammed me into the ground before lifting me up upside down.

My head felt numb after hitting the ground. I was disoriented, and my vision was blurred. It may have taken a few seconds, or several long minutes, but a figure eventually appeared beneath me. The night was still dark so I could only hear a voice. “You really thought you could outsmart a druid in a forest?” The voice told me he was a male, and fairly young. “But you sure gave me a scare when we couldn’t find you in the wreckage.” The vines slowly let me down, but remained wrapped around my legs. “Anyways, Berserker.”

Out of the bushes came a huge animal. The shadows of the forest and the night concealed its shape quite well, but it was surely a monstrous beast. It had bright, blood red eyes staring me down, and rows of sharp teeth showing from its mouth, and as it approached I could feel the weight of its breath. “He got your scent back in the field. No matter how far you run away, no matter where you hide, we will find you.” The man grabbed me by the back of the head and dragged me closer to the beast, which growled once more, but not at me this time. The so called druid dropped me onto the ground and sneered at his Servant. “I already told you, she isn’t food!” He took a step back as the monster began snarling. “You’re such a pain in the ass!” The man extended more vines from the woods and gave his Servant a quick whip, and then another, and another. The beating didn’t seem to get the desired effect. On the contrary, the Servant seemed to only get angrier with each piece of abuse, leading his Master to a more swift solution. “By the power of my second Command Seal: Calm do-AAAARGH!”

I knew I had to make my escape while they were both distracted in that argument. The vines around my legs gripped me tight and I couldn’t get them loose, but my arms were free. Without light, I just grabbed the first thing I could and felt that it was pointy and cold to the touch. Good enough, I thought. Before he could finish that sentence, I stabbed him in the side. I could feel blood flowing from the wound, and the vines loosening as he yelped in pain. After that it was relatively easy to free myself and stand up. Yet my captor was also quick to recover and he backhanded me, throwing me to the ground once more.

Just when it seemed all my efforts were for nothing, a wall of fire arose from the ground, dividing the man from his Servant, and surprising both as it did so. Even I was in a state of shocked surprise and unable to move thanks to the torrent of flames. I didn’t notice when a different figure approached me and lifted me away from the scene. Before I knew it I was flying in the sky, carried by someone new. “Are you wounded, Miss?” It was a voice I would never forget.

***

Once we landed, again in the forest, I spoke up. “Archer?” Again, the darkness of the night made him hard to make out.

“Hang on a moment.” Archer ran his finger over my forehead and suddenly I could see. “There, that should help. Your lights will only hinder our escape.” When we had a spare moment Archer would later tell me this was one of his runes.

Indeed, this was the Professor’s Servant, Archer. I didn’t know his true name at the time. He was a massive man, taller than any person I had ever seen, with broad shoulders and enormous muscles. His green eyes and long nose were the only features you could truly make out under a thick mane of black hair and a beard that was long and unruly. A huge bear skin covered his large body from shoulder to knee, though at this point it was covered in mud and leaves and it smelled awful. Under it he wore a green hunting jacket, old in style but not lacking in it. On his trunk-like legs he had a pair of beige pants, a bit worn out, and brown, leather boots covered in mud. “What are you doing here?”

The burly Servant knelt down in front of me and saluted. “I was ordered not to leave your side no matter what. You know that.”

I needed to know something. “Is the Professor with you?” Seeing the Servant had already excited me, so it stood to reason that maybe his Master had made it.

Archer averted his gaze sadly. “I’m sorry. My Master died during the attack.” It was obvious he was pained about this turn of events.

And the way I reacted didn’t help him. “What happened? Tell me!” I shouted accusingly. He had been the only person I spoke with since Japan, and the kindest person I knew up until that point. With him gone like that, so abruptly…

What can I say? It almost broke me.

But Archer didn’t let that happen. The Servant wiped the tears that escaped my eyes and spoke to me gently. “I’ll tell you everything later, but right now, we need to get moving.” He took his bear skin and covered me with it. “Listen. Without a Master, I have to save my mana as much as I can. That fire I made earlier took a fair amount to create. Your night vision, even staying in corporeal form will drain me over time. This means I cannot fight against that Servant and Master. You’ll have to run away and find the others.” He then stood up and disappeared. “I can speak to you like this.” I could hear his voice in my head. “The smell of my coat should throw off the beast’s scent. Make way down the trail and follow the stream of water; that’s the shortest path.”

I took a deep breath, as obviously frightened as I was. I remember shaking in fear and biting my lip to keep myself from sobbing. I did as Archer said and eventually found the stream. “How long until we get to the city?”

I could sense some hesitation from the Servant. “Miss, I’m sorry, but we aren’t going to the city. I have to take you north.” I stopped then, not knowing what to think. There was something he wasn’t telling me. I gave him a chance to explain himself. “The wind is blowing from the east, and we are being pursued. We can’t take the chance of the enemy still tracking you, and for now at least, they think we are moving east.”

I remained frozen in place. So I was only going deeper into this damned forest, being relentlessly hunted by a monster? Not only was my situation terrifying, but it was also extremely frustrating. Our only option was to run away scared, but all I wanted was to go home. I felt cursed to have this kind of life. A life not of my own.

I was so entangled in my own woe, I missed the scout closing in on me. Luckily, Archer didn’t have such weaknesses. “Miss, look out!” I spun around and was able to see a black… thing launching itself toward me. The movement actually helped me dodge its fangs and only the weight of the monster knocked me to the side. With some distance created, I could make out the shape of the thing as a wolf. Well, it looked like a wolf, but not like any wolf I had ever seen. This one appeared to be made of some kind of dark essence that flickered like flames, and its bright red eyes glowed like a pair of headlights in the dark of the night. Upon lunging at me again, Archer appeared corporeal between us and cut the monster down with a swing of his axe. As the wolf faded away after being slashed, Archer stayed on the defensive. “This is the work of that monster. He sent these scouts in all directions to find us.” A loud howling resounded from deep within the woods, followed by several more from other directions. “And it seems they did! We have to run!”

My legs moved on their own after hearing his order. The whole world seemed to be against us, and after finally getting a plan, I had been found. We didn’t make it far before I felt Archer’s hand on my shoulder. “Miss, listen.” I had no idea what he meant. “It’s nothing. Nobody is pursuing us.” The silence perturbed him. “The wind changed direction too.” It was blowing from the north, and picking up speed and power. His expression sharpened and, without notice, he picked me up again in his arms and made his way deeper into the forest, soon coming across a broad tree. The Servant then summoned his axe and buried it into the truck. “Miss, listen. That Servant is preparing his Noble Phantasm. In other words, his most powerful attack. We are too late to escape it, so we must brace ourselves for it.” He squatted and gripped the handle of his axe tightly with one hand and hugged the tree with the other. “Grab my back, the wind is about to get worse.”

I scurried up and grabbed his back as hard as I could. True to his word, the uproarious wind began hitting us. The wind was so rough it felt like being in a hurricane, somehow still hitting us even as we hid behind the enormous tree. Soon enough, the forest itself began to give, and debris started to fly. Not just small stones and dirt, but large boulders and entire trees, roots and all.

The broad trunk did it’s job and kept us safe until the horrendous wind had ceased and we found ourselves surrounded by a huge cloud of dirt and dust that had raised in the torrent. Walking past the tree that had shielded us, I could see the destruction that the wind had caused. The stream we had been following was no more. It wasn’t so much that it had dried up, or emptied by the wind, but it no longer existed. In fact, looking around, the entirety of the forest between us that had so recently been full of trees and life now lied flattened under debris and broken branches. Not a single green leaf or a blade of grass could be seen.

“Miss, we can’t stay here.” I could hear him calling for me, but something else stood out too.

A nearby rustling.

I pushed aside some rocks and dug through the snow and the dirt to find a small rabbit. It was bleeding from the stomach and its little leg was tapping the ground rapidly.

As I pulled it out from the destruction, it died in my hands. I felt Archer’s hand on my shoulder. “Miss? We can’t stay here.”

I realized then that we wouldn’t be able to run. “How far away do you think they are?”

I didn’t need to see his face to know how confused he was. “If the blast hit us this hard, I can’t imagine they are that far. But Miss…”

“There’s no other choice then. We need to fight back.” I stood up, ready to face the enemy.

Only for Archer to try and pull me back. “You know full well that’s not an option here!” He paused, and sighed. “Miss I can barely cast a spell anymore, much less use my Noble Phantasm.” It was clear to me he was trying to protect me as best he could under the circumstances, and all this activity only hindered that plan.

“They’ll keep at it until they catch us. There’s no way we can lose them.” The way it looked, Archer would disappear and I was going to be alone. It was a waiting game that we were losing. “But if we deal with them here, in one decisive blow, we can then run away like you want.” I looked up into his eyes with determination.

“What do you have in mind, Miss?” Shrugging his massive shoulders, Archer gave in, perhaps understanding my tenacity, perhaps just giving up. Whatever his reason, I had to come up with something quick to impress him.

***

Wolves swarmed the area, and the leaders followed afterwards. The Servant was the same huge, jet black wolf as before. Thanks to Archer’s magecraft, I could also now get a good look at the Master. “The brat’s around here, isn’t she?!” He was a short, skinny man with black hair falling in patches all around. He wore a long brown coat, black trousers and fingerless gloves. Something about him I hadn’t noticed before were his legs. The man wore braces on both legs, leaving him to move around only with a cane, limping wherever he moved. As he struggled into view, I could see him holding his left side where I had stabbed him before. “My Servant has your smell, don’t think you can just hide around the rubble.” I could see him squinting in every direction trying to find me.

All the wolves scattered, turning over rocks and inspecting collapsed trees for any clue of my whereabouts. As they returned with nothing the man grew more frustrated and pulled out a knife. “That Servant gave you this knife before. You can be sure I’m going to pay you back for that stunt you pulled.” He waited a moment, looking for a reaction. The wolves began circling around a fallen tree and the Master approached as well, slowly. He sneered. “You’ll get to spend some time with your friends from the convoy. I’m going to feed you to Berserker and he will swallow you alive.” He stopped in front of the tree trunk and quickly reached inside the small burrow beneath it. The man rumbled around and pulled the dead rabbit from inside, quickly flinging it aside in disgust. “You better show yourself soon! I can’t kill you but that doesn’t mean I have to deliver you unharmed. How much it’s going to hurt you depends on my mood.”

That’s when Archer descended on the enemy Servant. He was able to bury his axe in Berserker’s side and grab it, both Servants falling to the ground. The massive wolf was able to recover fairly quickly, struggling with Archer as they rolled around. The Master stumbled a few steps back with his hand at his chest, then, after getting his bearings, looked at the rest of the wolves standing around. “What are you waiting for?! Tear him to pieces!”

Sticking to close combat, Archer disengaged from the giant wolf and began dispatching the pack of smaller creatures before he was surrounded, avoiding Berserker’s tackles by remaining in motion. All the action was an attempt to make sure the enemy’s attention was on him, and nowhere else. This huge distraction gave me the chance to strike at the Master. I wasn’t using the rubble to hide, but had covered myself in mud and dirt to pass like another patch of ground while they walked over me. The opportunity to strike was when the Master limped closer to me and gave me his back. In those few seconds where I began closing the gap, I felt success coming closer with every inch. Archer meanwhile was busy keeping the enemy Berserker in place by holding him down by the neck.

As my shoddily constructed spear was about to strike at the man in the back, I was surprised by a familiar feeling. My foot was trapped by the same vines as before. The removal of my momentum threw off my balance and I ended up face first in the ground. 

“I already told you. You can’t outsmart a druid in the forest.” The man turned around and kicked my wooden spear out of reach. He lifted my face with the tip of his foot and sneered again as I tried to stare daggers at him. Angry with my perceived insolence, he hit me in the head with his cane. “What’s up with those eyes? You think I care that you hate me?!” He continued hitting me repeatedly with the cane; from my position I could only helplessly look up and take the punishment. Once he stopped the abuse, he pulled me up by my hair and forced me to watch the fight. “Watch it with your own eyes. My Berserker is going to tear that Servant apart, limb by limb.”

To my horror, not only had Berserker broken free of Archer’s grip, but it had managed to turn the tables on my friend. The monstrous wolf had pinned Archer down to the ground, with only his axe between his face and those jaws. Being trapped, and without other options, Archer used his magecraft to get him out. He created a fireball under Berserker and was able to throw it away from him, circling back around and catching the wolf in the side. Berserker ignored the flames covering his body and lunged forwards, fangs first. As it looked like Berserker was about to take a bite out of him, a swing from Archer’s axe separated the two once more.

The battle was getting so heated and drastic I could no longer bear to watch. The druid noticed me averting my eyes and shouted at me again. “Who said you could look away?!” He hit me in the head again and stood me up by force, holding my eyes open and forcing me to watch. “You’re going to see every bit of this, all the way to the end.”

Archer was back to dodging and running away. He got closer and closer to the tree that we used to survive the wind from before, and began jumping up along the great truck. Right there, with my captor distracted, I was able to free my head enough to chomp down hard on his hand. The man yelled in pain and tried to push me away, but I wasn’t trying to get away. I pushed down harder and braced myself to take his blows. Archer continued to ascend the tree, and Berserker was able to follow closely behind. Both Servants jumped so high they almost left the tree, when Archer used the top as a support to jump backwards, out from the tree, with Berserker following his motions. Archer then summoned a new weapon to his hands, an old musket rifle, and took aim at the enemy Servant jumping behind him. Berserker was trapped in the air, his momentum keeping him in a doomed position.

Yet, Archer fired his rifle and the bullet sailed right past the hairy beast, completely missing it.

To my eyes, it happened in a blink. One moment the enemy Master was punching and screaming at me to let him go, the next, the shock of something hitting him echoed into me, and a flow of blood rained down. The druid stopped everything; no more punches, no more threats, no more screaming. I caught a glimpse of the bullet hole in his neck, Archer had shot him in the back of the neck, and I’m sure the bullet was lodged in the bone.

This was the plan all along. Archer may not have had enough strength to kill Berserker outright, but if we could kill the Master, that would even the playing field. The moment its Master was hit, Berserker flinched and froze in midair. Archer used this moment to throw his axe at the wolf with all his might. Another clean hit landed the axe squarely in the monster’s right eye. Both Servants hit the ground with force, but only Archer stood up.

Master and Servant were both on the ground, incapacitated and wounded. Archer recovered his weapon and I stared at the druid, still too shocked to look away. It had been my plan, yes, but… actually seeing it… the man was squirming in place while bleeding out, making sounds like he was choking, trying to speak. Like that rabbit from before, he looked so helpless and there was nothing I could do.

What I could do, and did do, was retrieve the knife. It was Archer’s, after all. With that done, I slowly backed away until I bumped into Archer’s legs. I looked up at his face, and it broke me out of my trance. “W-We need to go now. That Servant isn’t dead yet. It may still attack us.”

Then we left all of that behind. Archer didn’t have the strength or the mana to finish the Servant and I lacked the heart, stomach, and courage to finish off the Master. Even if we had won the fight, the victory only left a sour taste in my mouth and a huge weight on my shoulders. Our journey was quiet for some time afterwards. We just walked, we weren’t able to be free of the woods by first light, though, and all that walking had begun to take a toll on me. I could see the sunlight had evicted the darkness and was bathing the forest in golden light. Everything was so peaceful, I decided to sit down for a moment to rest.

The sun beams warmed me up, and I smiled. I smiled for the first time since I left the castle; since I left my home. I must have suddenly looked pensive, as Archer knelt down at my side, his face lined with worry. “Is there something wrong?” Before I could answer, I gasped, as I began to see Archer sparkling.

He paused, looking at himself as he stood up. Then Archer stared down at me, with pity in his eyes, and spoke. “My time is up. I can feel myself vanishing already.” There was silence once again between us. “I’m sorry. I was hoping to escort you back to safety. I really was. But sometimes, this is how things must be….”

There was something about his tone, as if he were talking to a child and that didn’t sit well with me. I stood up, ready to face this Servant, and yelled at him. “You can’t do that!” I could see the surprise on his face. “I won’t let you run away from me! Not like this! Don’t you see? I only got this far thanks to you!” Everyone else was gone. Everyone I had ever known. I wasn’t going to just stand back and watch Archer go away. I kept myself from crying, knowing nothing would stop me if I actually started. “I won’t allow it!”

“Miss…” He flinched a little, staring at my determined face. This was the only time I ever actually stared someone down, and a person much larger than me at that. He seemed like he had been forced to avert his eyes. “Without a Master, I won’t…”

Unwilling to take any more excuses, I cut him off and spoke up. “If that’s all you need, I’ll be your Master!” I stretched my hand to him.

While he again flinched, he still looked away from me. “Y-You don’t want that, believe me.” But I wasn’t about to back down. My eyes centered on his and I refused to blink. My will was set and nothing would change my mind. He slowly turned his gaze back on me. “The war for this Grail is no joke. You could end up dying any time!”

“Archer, I  _ am _ the Grail. What can I do but be involved?” I could see his realization. “If you want me to be safe, to live, stay with me. Protect me. Be my Servant.”

Archer deflated, seeping out a sigh. “Do you even have a wish big enough for the Grail, Miss?”

Did I have a wish for the Grail? Until now the only thing on my mind had been survival. Such a question was enough to make my doubt my own resolve and lower my guard. If anything… “I want to be free.” If there was one thing this last couple of days had taught me, it was my lack of freedom. I carried the Grail; this whole war was being fought over me. People had died because of me. Yet to them, I was nothing more than an object, something to win, devoid of choice, and voice, even if I was the most important thing here. “I want to be free of the curse that is carrying the Grail.” My eyes had gone back to leveling with Archer’s, I again offered my hand to him.

Maybe it was my expression, or the tone of my voice, but Archer’s ironclad will bent, and he looked defeated. Then he looked up again at me, and took my hand in his. “What’s your name, Miss?”

Without letting him go, I answered. “I am Isabel von Einzbern. Would you be my partner in this Holy Grail War?”

By now, the sunlight was hitting me directly. All the shadows had receded away from us. Perhaps this was the first time Archer really looked at me, the first time he really noticed me. His eyes grew wide as he looked, and at the time I couldn’t understand why. He smiled gently at me and knelt down again, still holding my hand as he spoke. “I will. You have my axe to rely on, my rifle to protect you, and my heart to guide you from now on.” Right then, I felt a burning sensation on the back of my hand, and a dim red light shone out from it. I raised it up to look, and there they were: Command Seals. 

This made it official. I was now a Master in this war. “We should move on. There are lots of things we still need to take care of.” It was a long path out of the forest, but for the first time, I knew we would be able to find our way. Together.

The sun was coming down, and Archer and I had been walking through the forest the whole day. We hadn’t hit anything resembling civilization, not even litter. “How much longer do you think we have to go?”

Archer could see the sun in decline and looked at the trees around us. “I think we should find shelter before the night comes.” A column of smoke loomed in the distance and he pointed at it. “That’s a good sign. Let’s go and check it out.” It wasn’t far from our position and the path to it was relatively unblocked, clear enough for us to make a hasty walk. By the time we arrived the sun was only barely peeking over the horizon.

The first thing we noticed were the lights. Long lines of lights that were at my eye level and barely reached Archer’s waist, and it appeared they were set atop a white fence. The lights presented the area surrounding a small hut, the origin of the plume of smoke we had seen. A wooden hut, it looked positively ancient, but well cared for. No windows could be seen from our angle, and the only way in was a small front door. We walked right past the fence of lights before reaching the door. To my honest surprise, it was open and I went in. It was less simple for Archer, who was far too large for such a door.”Perhaps you can try in your spirit form?”

He vanished and I waited for him to appear inside, but after a few minutes he appeared right where he had been. “I can’t… I can’t walk inside in my spiritual form.” He looked sheepish. “There’s no barrier or anything. I just can’t seem to get past the walls.”

I began inspecting the door frame and found no signs of anything that would indicate any magical sealing. “Let’s try the normal way then.” He had to kneel down and come in one limb at a time, but eventually Archer squeezed through. We immediately smelled something cooking in the chimney, and felt the warm atmosphere that contrasted heavily with the chill of the forest. We both removed our dirty shoes and left them by the down before relaxing in front of the fire.

The hut appeared a lot more cozy on the inside. The stone chimney was a few steps from the kitchen counter, where several dry herbs and spices rested. A small dining area of a table and two chairs rested between them. Inside the hearth of the chimney hung a cauldron, and a typical fire poker hung at the side. There was a small alcove that we could see close to the fireplace that was shoddily hidden by blankets. And across the room there was another door leading to what we could only assume was another room, though there was a lock under the knob barring our curiosity. A wooden floor lay beneath us, a wooden ceiling sat over our heads, and Archer had to tilt his head if he stood up straight. The only ventilation was a small window by the kitchen; no glass either, just a small square cut out of the wall.

We could hear food bubbling inside the cauldron, and the fire was quickly dying. I checked on the food, grabbing a rag I found on the floor and taking a wooden spoon sitting above the mantle. I could see a brown liquid, with chunks of vegetables and meat swimming around, and gingerly took a small sample of it, blowing on it beforehand just in case. “Stew… maybe venison, with potatoes.” It was bland and overcooked, but still edible. Truth be told, it’s all we were looking for at this point.

“Some bowls and spoons here.” Archer rifled around in the cupboards and pulled them out.

“I hope they don’t mind.” I took the bowls from him and began serving the stew. “You should eat up too. Your mana isn’t fully replenished yet. Also, we both should get some sleep before moving on.” We both sat down at the table and started to eat. However, things felt a bit awkward and silent, so after serving seconds, I spoke. “Archer, what’s your wish for the Grail?”

The Servant stopped slurping, and placed his bowl down with a sigh. Maybe it was because I hadn’t asked if he had a wish, I just assumed he had one. There had to be a wish if the Grail called him, right? Still, after a moment, he shook off his anxiety and continued eating casually. “Can’t say I have one. I’m just happy protecting you.”

I let down my spoon and decided to confront him. “You can be honest with me, you know.” I stared at him from across the table, waiting for his answer. He appeared shocked that I would push and pry. “What’s your true name, anyway?” That alone could clue me in on his wish. He wouldn’t have to explain if he just gave me anything to work with.

Archer looked down, at his bowl, looked to the side, at his rifle, then back to me. “Miss… I don’t have a name.” Now I was the one left speechless. “I do recall the name I’m most known for, and I even remember my previous ‘life’, how I got this coat and the importance of my axe. But I cannot say if any of that actually happened, to be honest.” Something about this made him chuckle as he stared into the distance. “It’s the problem with Heroic Spirits. Your own person gets so twisted that it gets hard to even figure yourself out.”

The mood immediately shifted, and my attitude as well. “Well, all those legends had to come from somewhere, right? Who’s to say any of that is fake?” By that same token, who was to say any of it really happened, either? I suppose that was the problem. Such a conundrum really put Servants under a new light for me. “So, you really had no choice in your summoning for this war?”

“Not entirely. We must accept the Grail’s call in order to be summoned. What you should be asking is why I’m here to begin with.” This answer was different from the others. With the others, Archer took time to answer, or outright ignored portions of the question. With this one, Archer was quick to clarify the specifics. “I can’t even begin to describe the experience of being summoned by the Grail, but I do remember an immense sense of…” He paused, thinking of the right word. “Duty?... Before I could even lay eyes on you, I knew it was my duty to help you, to protect you.”

Still speechless, I looked down at my food, poking at it a bit with the spoon. The way Archer spoke, with such a soft tone in his voice. His words were like a warm touch. He was a protector through and through. It was enough that I had to wipe my eyes before proceeding. “Can you at least tell me that name, or are you fine with me just calling you Archer?”

“It’s not a problem, as long as I know you’re referring to me, but if you still want to know…” His face then turned serious before he could finish the sentence, as if he had been suddenly distracted. Only the wind outside could be heard, and it had started blowing so fiercely I didn’t even notice. “There’s a Servant closing in!”

We both stood up and got ready. “Do you know if it’s on our side?”

Archer stood up and started looking toward the window. “I cannot tell, but it’s approaching fast.” Suddenly, the wind stopped howling. Somehow, it had come to a complete stop. A couple of steps could be heard coming from outside. It was a specific gait of one quick light step followed by a heavy one. Archer picked up both of his weapons and stood in between me and the door. “Get behind me Miss!” Moments later the door swung open.

The mysterious Servant shrieked as soon as she entered the cabin. “Giiiiiirl!” The figure in front of us was an old woman, clearly. This wrinkled crone was a small one, even without counting how hunched over she stood, with grey cobwebs for hair and a very old style tunic, assorted rags covering her right arm, and an apron. What stood out most to me was her face. Deep wrinkles filled her visage, and her nose was so long and curved her eyes seemed miniscule by comparison. And speaking of her eyes, she had one milky with cataracts and one a deep black. The way she moved her mouth and lips around, it was like she was chewing on something, and it showed me all her teeth were metal ones.

She was like a witch from out of a fairytale.

She was acting like Archer wasn’t even there. “Giiiiiirl, I know you’re in here!” He was apparently still covering from her sight. This woman’s look was a mean one, like her face was stuck in an angry frown, and her eyes wandered all over the hut. Proceeding with her limping, the old woman was looking for something, most likely me, while hobbling around the small room, carrying a dusty old broom in her right hand.

The whole scene was bizarre, and somewhat scary, so I spoke to Archer. “Are you sure she is a Servant?” I definitely should not have said that, since the old crone heard me and stared right in my direction, rushing towards me as fast as she could.

“Vasilisaaaaa!” She tried reaching past Archer and actually managed to reach me, wrapping her hand around my arm.

“Unhand her, witch!” Thankfully, Archer was quick to react. My Servant pushed her away, hard, and the old woman hit the floor. She began shrieking once more.

The atmosphere had quickly turned for the worse, as the old Servant got up, slowly. She wasn’t shrieking anymore, but breathing hard, almost growling, at Archer. The whole hut began grumbling too, shaking all around us, and we could begin to hear the wood bending and breaking all around us. Even Archer was looking scared, so before something could go horribly wrong, I acted. “Yes, I am Vasilisa!” Slowly, everything calmed down, and came to a rest. After signaling Archer to keep back and leave it to me, I began walking toward the old witch. I even helped her sit down. It wasn’t so hard to be nice.

What happened next would surprise anyone. This Servant rammed her fingers inside my mouth, prying open my mouth with on hand and running her free fingers all over my teeth. It was the grossest thing that I had ever felt. “Full rows of teeth.” She closed my mouth and moved to my clothes, making a disgusted face after feeling them out. “You’re filthy, like a revolting pig. She picked up my right hand, opening my palm and investigating it. “Delicate hands, won’t do any good for housework.”Her eyes wandered towards the half eaten bowls of food. ‘You ate my food, you dirty little thief!”

Again, the Servant grew violent and Archer prepared himself. “Please understand, we have been lost in the woods for days. There’s still plenty for you.”

She was now less aggressive and looked at me incredulously. “Not for me, girl! The child! I have to feed the child.” Her eyes kept wandering all over the room while she mumbled mad ramblings. “No… Not one child anymore… I have two… The children, yes, you ate the children’s food!”

This was all so confusing. Maybe tackling the situation with normal logic wasn’t the best option. “Look, we can pay you back. There’s no need to fight.” Trying as best as I could to prevent a fight, especially in this hut, which seemed more complicated then at first glance. We didn’t know if she was an enemy; she sure didn’t act like one. “But, please, we don’t have shelter. Let us stay here, at least for tonight.”

Her gaze maintained it’s angry look, but very slightly, so slightly I almost couldn’t tell, turned to an annoyed one. The old crone nearly threw one of the bowls to me and barked “Fill it up.” While I rushed to fulfill, she turned to Archer. “Replace the firewood.” Archer looked at the woman then back at me, still not believing that we were doing this. I pleaded at him with my eyes, forcing him to comply as I handed the full bowl back. The old Servant took the stew and ate it without a spoon, and I reflexively cringed. Maybe the food wasn’t as hot as when we arrived, but it was still scalding; she must have been burning her throat!. Once she was done, she slammed the bowl on the table. “More!”

A little taken aback, I did as instructed. This time, she got up from her seat and limped to the door at the back of the room. The old crone went inside and slammed the door so hard I thought something would fall and break. As I looked around the room, I noticed nothing had, and sighed in relief. “Are you sure about this, Miss?”

Archer would follow my lead on anything. That much was clear already, so the choice of staying was purely my own. “I know how… unstable she looks, and acts. But I think I understand her. She didn’t attack us even after you pushed her. A true enemy Servant wouldn’t be doing that.”

It was true that Archer hadn’t seen another Servant of his faction before. Could it be possible that she was working to keep the girl safe? Still, they had already crossed paths with the enemy in this very forest, and her sudden appearance was unsettling at the very least. “Where’s her Master? There’s only one bed here, and I don’t imagine he’s just camping outside.” This was a factor that was actively concerning him.

“Maybe he’s at their main camp?” It wasn’t a good answer, and I could tell Archer wasn’t convinced even before I looked at his face. “I know, we’ll ask her.” It was a simple idea, and Archer went along with it, most likely to humor me. So we stayed there, losing valuable rest time as we waited for her to reenter. Eventually she did, and went straight for her bed. “Wait, we still need to talk!” I desperately shouted. The Servant groaned loudly and sat straight up. “What are you doing here? Are you from our faction?”

Again, more mumblings and ramblings. “Someone told me… yes he told me… I heard it, secure… Protect? Guard… To guard the girl…” She seemed to be having trouble remembering things, and didn’t look fully there as she spoke, swaying slightly and staring at the floor. “Vasilisa… I must protect the girl…” She began making motions in the hand. “The cup… The Grail…” As she went on, she got softer and softer until I wasn’t able to make it out.

“Did your Master tell you to protect the Grail?” It was the only reasonable explanation once I put the words together. “What class are you?”

There were more hand gestures and Archer groaned, growing impatient with the Servant. “I think… I’m…” And suddenly something hit her, a real revelation lit up her mind for an instant. “Caster! Protect the Grail…” As quickly as lucidity came, it went, and she stopped there, staring at the empty air with her mouth open.

“Was that the command?” I got no further answer. It was as if that was her last push and she’d need to reboot if we were going to get anything else. After waiting a few seconds of her basically being comatose, I helped her lie down and covered her with the blanket. After I did, I looked up at Archer’s skeptical face and forced a nervous smile. “That’s a good sign, right?”

My Servant rubbed his temples. “I still don’t feel good about all of this.”

I stared down at the sleeping Servant. “What kind of Servant falls asleep in front of an enemy?” Archer sighed in resignation. “Look, I’m too tired already. Let’s sleep here and think about what to do tomorrow.” The fire was still strong, so I laid in front of the hearth and tried to get some sleep. Archer say next to the wall and kept watch,

What he did next he wouldn’t tell me until much later. It was deeper into the night, and Archer had gotten up to put more firewood on to keep the hut warm. As he did, he also placed his cloak over me to keep me warm and comfortable. Then he turned to the bed. He prepared his axe, and could hear Caster audibly snoring. To him, this was protecting me, and I could not fault him for it. Archer raised his axe high, taking aim at the sleeping Servant in front of him, and let his weapon drop as hard as he could.

He stopped it before hitting his target, merely breezing past the blanket. He let his breath escape. Indeed, he went at her with killing intent and nothing happened. No traps were triggered, nor was there any surprise attack she had prepared beforehand. What kind of Servant falls asleep in front of the enemy? Either one that isn’t your enemy or a pretty crazy Servant.

Archer put the axe away and moved back to his corner to get some actual sleep. The whole event had lasted mere minutes and he hadn’t allowed a single noise through the whole thing. Why did he stop the axe? Maybe he finally trusted my judgment, or he was trying to indulge my delusions. One thing was clear: Archer was listening to me and was willing to put his trust in me both as a Master and as a person. As I said before, I wouldn’t know about this little incident until much later after it happened, but I didn’t need to hear about it for me to know Archer’s true character.

I really couldn’t have asked for a better partner in this war.


	5. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think some things got mixed up while editing, that's why this chapter ends so abruptly

Just south of the forest, a man spoke to his subordinate. “You’d best be ready to head out.” Two Masters of the Vox Nihili were just exiting a tent brimming with injured soldiers.

The girl winced in pain as she fixed her clothes. “I am ready. Nothing will keep me from facing the enemy.” She was finally well enough to get up, though she still held her side with one hand. “What’s our next destination?”

“After that disastrous display that was the attack on the convoy, we’ve been tasked to find the Grail ourselves.” He looked back and saw Miss Maeve lagging behind, and lowered his pace. He did it to maintain proximity so as not to shout. “Listen, we are outnumbered and the enemy has already gathered their forces. We must focus on finding the Grail and avoid conflict unless absolutely necessary.” He said this despite wearing an expression that shouted for conflict over covert.

Their ride finally arrived at the camp and the Masters walked towards the dark car. “Have you gotten a word from Thomas?” With the comment of them being outnumbered, this was the only way Maeve could think of balancing the scales.

“The Becket child? He was successful in summoning our Caster, but he wasn’t strong enough to control it.” He added one more remark before stepping in. “Last we heard, he had been killed after Caster went rogue. I suppose that’s what we get for trusting children in this matter.”

His coldness and overall demeanor made him miss his companion’s shift in mood. Maeve had to stop and hold onto the car door to keep herself from falling, and the tone of her commander wasn’t doing anything to help. “What are we doing about it?”

Mr. Denis already had orders regarding that. “Nothing. That Servant is to be seen as a rogue agent, not as a member of our organization, nor as an enemy. Unless it attacks us, we are to leave it alone.”

Something snapped inside of Maeve at hearing that, and she hit the door so hard with her fist that the whole car rumbled. “That’s it?! This Servant killed one of our people! How can you let it go unpunished?!”

In stark contrast to her outburst, Mr. Denis calmly answered. “Firstly, that is His Grace’s will.” He said this knowing she would bite her lip. “Second, your friend Thomas did not die a useless death. Our report said he was able to use one Command Seal.” The news caught her attention. “Whether that command hinders us or helps us will only be answered in time. Staying out of the way of that crazed Servant is in our best interest… for now.”

After a moment of silence, the car still parked, Maeve finally spoke. “Alright…” She needed that time to keep her fury bound. If the last few days had taught her anything, it was that there was little to no place for emotion in this war. “Mr. Denis, let me fight that Servant again.” He knew exactly who she was talking about; it was all she could think about the last few days. “I promise, my Lancer will be victorious next time!”

Mr. Denis just signaled the driver to go and made himself comfortable. “I may have seniority over you, but you are also a head in our organization. You don’t need permission from me to go after an enemy. Just be sure it doesn’t interfere with previous orders.” As the car began moving the man looked over his own Command Seals. He still had all of them, and his control over Rider was strong and reliable. When the time came, he would be ready.

***

The main group was now arriving at their new base of operations, a large manor in the middle of rural Louisiana, off the road between Houston and New Orleans. The building was surrounded on all sides by open fields, with no signs of trees, and miles away from any city. There was enough space to house all the Servants and Masters, the rest of the Association soldiers, and any of the other support members that had been called. There was a large barn outside the manor with stables that housed several horses and all their amenities.

Rider was outside walking near the stables. After coming up empty-handed from the battle site, there was nothing to do but wait for new orders, and his Master did not require help. The Servant walked past the fence, assuming at this hour that the horses would be walking free in the fields, and looked around for the animals. To his surprise, all the horses were flocking around a small area in the field. Some were trotting, but most of them stood in place. They seemed fixated on something. His curiosity peaked, Rider moved closer to take a look.

He found almost instantly the cause of the strange behavior. It was their Lancer. As part of her treatment, the Servant was to rest outside in a makeshift sleeping bag. Only her head and bandaged right arm were visible, and both eyes were covered in a kind of thick sludge, stopping her from opening them.

The horses seemed curious about the Servant on the ground, and the girl was equally friendly with the animals. Often stroking them on the snout as they reached their heads down to investigate, giggling as they snorted. Rider chuckled as he watched and Lancer sat up as best she could and spoke. “Which one are you?”

She hadn’t yet met any other Servants in her group. While Rider had helped with her injuries, Lancer had been medically put under the entire time and was unaware. “I’m Rider. How are you feeling?”

Lancer clicked her tongue, her head still feeling a little numb. “I’m great, feeling great, nothing but great.” She stretched her hand as she felt a horse back away from her fingers. “Aw, don’t go away.”

Smiling at her again, Rider made an observation. “There are quite a few of them here. Seems you’re really popular.”

“Horses love me, and I love them too. They are noble animals.” It was something both could agree on. It was also something he didn’t expect to have in common. “Do you know how long your Master is going to keep me here?”

“He will have to come check for himself. Maybe he’ll come after all the Masters have had their meeting.” This was a necessary strategy meeting, and the first time everyone was in the same room. “Did you figure out what the cause was that left you like this?”

The girl got an angry sullen expression. “It was twofold, actually. The arm was caused by that other Lancer’s spear.” The worst parts of her injury, where the wounds had gotten black and smelled rotten, were her hand, where she caught the spear by the edge, and her shoulder, where the enemy was able to cut her. “That other thing that happened during the fight… I still need some time to think about it…” The wounds aside, there was also the sickening nausea she also felt during the battle, the haze she still felt the effects of in her head.

Rider didn’t really understand, but he brushed it aside quite easily. He could tell Lancer wasn’t in the best condition at the moment. “I’ll leave you alone, try to rest some more, you’re going to need it.”

He moved on toward the horses, approaching the one that seemed the most on guard with him, and would softly place a hand on its neck and the other stroking the head. Rider would then talk into the horse's ear, a few soft spoken words to keep it calm, and then slowly, he would guide the horse to the ground, laying on its side, completely calm and without fear of the man at its side. This horse stayed quiet even as Rider rubbed its belly.

Like a so-called horse whisperer, he could do this again and again with several horses roaming around, not a single one able to resist him. He finally picked a horse that he was happy with and began riding around. Rider needed no saddle nor reins to go horseback riding. It would never replace the feeling of riding his own horse, but still, it felt amazing to ride around on a real living breathing horse.

“Hey, you ride that horse like a real pro!” Lancer could feel Rider during all this; they weren’t too far away from where she was laying.

Rider laughed out loud at that comment. “I certainly hope so! It’s in my name!”

***

At the same time as their Servants were getting deserved R & R, the Masters were inside the main hall taking a call all the way from The Clock Tower. The image of Dean Belfaban was being projected in the middle of the table and all the Masters sat around it to bear witness. “So, The Holy Church told you that the Grail is missing?” Samuel was trying to get the answers they needed, bit by bit at least. “Do they know where it is?”

“Unfortunately, no. But it isn’t in enemy hands, yet. We can tell that much. That is the silver lining.” The Dean explained.

“Then tell us, Dean, what’s our next step?” Red Harvest spoke his doubts without much tact.

“We will keep our sensors and intelligence gathering network working extra hours in case something appears.” It should be easy to find a clue, but they had to race against the enemy too. “Although, while recovering the Grail is our top priority, your mission is to search and destroy.” All Masters perked up to that sound of that. “Leaving the enemy to its own devices is no longer an option. Without a Grail to protect, it stands to reason that the only use for your Servants is battle. I’ll leave the specifics and the strategies to you, and this house can be your base, of course.”

He was asking them to fight, the one thing they were brought here to do. Yet the brunt and vague way it was assigned didn’t sit right with any of them. Still, they understood implicitly why it was the way it was, and they did not openly object. “Oh, and one last thing. Samuel, I believe you lost your Servant in a previous altercation, what are you planning to do about it?”

The old pyromancer scratched his forehead with his right hand, showing the whole room he had used one Command Seal already. “I have that covered. No need to worry about that.” He abstained from a deeper explanation, and the Dean just had to trust his word.

“Miss Vasquez and Miss Shi, both of your Servants are badly wounded. Do you think they’ll be able to stay in the fight?”

“My Berserker is getting better rather quickly. I’m sure it’ll only be a short while before he’s in top form again.” Roberta had been tending to his wounds every free hour of the day, so she was well aware of his condition.

“And Lancer is already receiving treatment for her wounds. She is recovering right now.” There wasn’t more that she could say; it was touch and go as far as these wounds went.

“And Evelyn, they told me you were also hurt. How are you feeling?”

The girl rubbed her leg under her pants and answered. “It was just a scratch. It’s already closing, actually.”

All points had been dealt with, the Dean quickly proceeded with ending the call and the image vanished in front of their eyes, leaving a silent room of Masters. Samuel leaned back in his seat and spoke for all present to hear. “Listen, I summoned a new Assassin before this meeting took place, but you won’t be seeing him anytime soon. The only reason I’m telling you this now, is that we can only trust each other at the moment.”

Xiang was the first to nod. “The enemy had set up an ambush in advance for me. The Association caught it in time, but I still don’t know how the enemy could know about our route.”

Kaito also felt off about all this. “What about the attack against us? They knew if they kept us busy the convoy was going to be without protection.”

Concerns aside, knowing something was amiss and actually planning to deal with it were two different things. Samuel knew better than to get everyone riled up for nothing. “The best we can do now is follow orders, fight the enemy like they want us to. The old man and I will keep ourselves busy trying to find the Grail on our own.” Maybe their Servants would be more lucky than the Association.

All of the Masters felt a little more pacified after that, with Samuel stretching before standing to leave, dismissing the rest of the Masters. Samuel, knowing he would have to go back out before the day was over, decided to rest in the living room. Roberta went back up to her room to check on Berserker and rest. Kaito decided to tackle his tiredness by keeping himself busy and headed to the kitchen. Evelyn excused herself and headed to her room.

***

Xiang and Red Harvest went out to the fields to check on Lancer. “So, what do you think about all of that? We may actually have a mole in our network.” The old shaman was still worried about that extra set of footprints they found at the scene, but it seemed there was no helping that for now.

The Master monk gave a quick, confident answer. “It means nothing. It shouldn’t matter to us as Masters.” To say Red Harvest was surprised at the answer would be an understatement. “We protect the Grail, and keep it from enemy hands. Finding it should be our top priority.” She seemed pumped up, and then almost immediately deflated. “But we are also soldiers in this war. The moment we summoned our Servants was the moment we cast away peace until it was over.”

“Well, that  _ is _ one way to put it. Still, we should tread carefully from now on. Targeting Masters might be their priority.” It was also his plan against the enemy. “To be honest, seeing you so ready for battle fires me up as well.”

They continued into the fields, finding Rider on horseback and Lancer sitting right where they left her. Wearing her sarashi and what appeared to be pajama pants, Lancer sat on top of her sleeping bag and smiled as she was surrounded by horses. “Come to check on me, Master?”

The Masters approached and sat down, with Xiang skeptically raising an eyebrow at her Servant. “You should be lying down. And knocked out for that matter.”

Red Harvest inspected the bandages as they spoke. “It appears this Servant is tougher than my medicine.” It also appeared that she had no sensation in her arm. He was putting pressure around several places and received no reaction. It wasn’t altogether a bad sign, considering the circumstances. “The swelling has gone down, and the cuts are beginning to close.” He shook his head. “I still can’t say when you will be ready to fight, though, let alone completely recover.”

Lancer thought about his words and came up with a new question. “Well, can you tell me when I’ll be able to get out of bed?”

Her doctor gave a long consideration to this question. Taking into fact the progress of her healing and throwing in a bit of optimism. “I’ll say tomorrow, after your morning checkup. Just don’t overstrain yourself.” He wagged his finger to punctuate that last sentence. “Listen, I’ll be gone the rest of the day hunting clues with Rider. You get plenty of rest while I’m gone.”

“Thank you for your help and expertise. There is no way we can even begin to repay you.” Xiang quickly expressed her gratitude, bowing down before her fellow Master. “May your journey be safe.”

“Don’t worry. I’m going to have a pyromancer watching my back.” He signaled Rider to follow him.

***

Inside the manor, Kaito was busy preparing lunch. A generous handful of vegetables accompanied by some white meat. He also had a pot of steaming rice as a side. Evelyn found herself wandering in after being unable to find sleep and started to open the fridge. “Hey, what are you making?”

“Just a simple stir fry. Chicken, broccoli, peppers. I’m using the sauce my mother used to make, though, so you know it’s going to be good.”

“You cooking for Mr. Samuel too?” The girl had a keen eye, noticing that it was far too much food for just him.

“Oh. I guess it’s for… whoever wants some. In fact, it’s almost done, if you want you can take a seat and I’ll serve you.” Evelyn nodded, taking him up on his offer. A home cooked meal would be a welcome delight, surely. She didn’t have to wait long, either, as a few moments later, Kaito filled two bowls and handed one to his companion.

Only one bite was needed to understand the depth of the flavor. Even the white rice tasted so good, she could have eaten only that and been satisfied. “This is amazing, Kai!” It seemed she had underestimated him. “How can you cook this well?”

In between bites, the boy answered. “I’ve been home mostly alone since I was little. And with a teacher who is as destructive in the kitchen as he is on the battlefield, you have to learn to take care of yourself.”

“Mm. Being a student overseas, I also had to learn to do a lot of things on my own.” She took another bite of food. “Or order out constantly. But let me tell you, your cooking is way better than anything I could come up with.” As she looked over at her new live-in chef, something new caught her attention. While he had given her a fork to eat her food, Kaito was adeptly using a pair of chopsticks. She herself had never been able to even hold them right, let alone use them to eat food. Many things about her friend started to fall into place. “Kaito; that’s an interesting name. Is it Japanese?”

Surprised at the sudden interest, Kaito swallowed and answered back. “It is, yes. My mom gave it to me. She insisted on it when I was born.” He unconsciously smiled. The anecdote made him happy.

Evelyn poked a bit at her food as she prepared the next question. “Can I ask about your parents?”

Kaito shrugged before answering. “What is there to say? Japanese mom met American dad. She got pregnant in her teenage years; they married, and had to raise me while going to college.” He knew that wasn’t really enough to answer her question. “After they died, my teacher took me in and now I’m here. Not that interesting, really.” Anything more he did not say, preferring to keep things at a distance.

Though Kaito didn’t sound troubled about her questions and he wasn’t making her feel she was stomping on boundaries, she felt it was better to not press. “How’s Caster? Is she here?”

Now that did make the boy look worried. “She’s all healed up, but there’s something bothering her. I can tell.” He looked up and saw Evelyn looking puzzled. “It’s like she’s sad or something. She barely talks to me and is always looking away at the distance.” He had no explanation for this behavior. At first he thought it might have just been her wounds, but Caster never complained about being in pain, and didn’t seem to be in any physical pain. “Maybe I just don’t understand women, Eve.”

She giggled at his comment. “Why don’t you just talk to her? Maybe you can help her out in some way.”

“Maybe. She has done a lot for us; it’s time I do something in return.” With his bowl empty, Kaito picked up his dishes. “I’m going to clean them up. Just leave your bowl there once you’re done; no worries.” She hadn’t made much of an impact on the bowl.

“Thanks. I’m sure I’ll sleep much better on a full stomach. Have a great day!” With a beaming smile, Evelyn hopped off the stool and practically skipped upstairs, leaving Kaito with the dishes.

The kitchen had two doorless openings around it, connecting to both the living room and the dining table. And from one of the couches on his left, through the doorway to the living room, Kaito could hear his teacher’s voice. “Glad you two are so friendly with each other.” The man sat up to meet his student eye to eye.

“Well, she is the only other person my age here. Not like we have much in common, though.” He then noticed. “Were you there all along? Why are you spying on your own pupil?”

“I’ve been here since the meeting finished, calm down. I just wanted to take a little nap before heading out.” Samuel reached out to the coffee table and picked up his eye patch. “Why didn’t you tell her about your folks?”

Kaito frowned. It wasn’t that she was asking too much of him, or that he was against answering her questions. “I just didn’t feel like it. Besides, she doesn’t need to know.”

Samuel scratched his head at the mixed response and continued. “Well, that’s your decision, and who am I to be in your case?” Still, he thought. Maybe it would help the teenagers to know more about each other in the future. “I’ll try to make it back before sundown.”

“Wait, I’m not going with you? What am I supposed to do until then?”

Samuel shrugged. “Make some new friends, talk with your Servant, practice your flame, or get some rest. What am I, your mother?”

Kaito let out a big sigh. “Tell me, is Assassin really fine?” The boy hadn’t seen the Servant since the battle. He had hoped his teacher would’ve had more faith in him, yet he found out about the status of the Servant in the meeting like everyone else.

“He isn’t here, if that’s what you want to know. It’s Assassin’s Noble Phantasm. He won’t die fully as long as I have Command Seals left.” He showed Kaito the missing Seal on his right hand. “He will keep himself in the shadows from now on. I don’t want anyone that isn’t us seeing his new face.” Looking at the clock, he realized he needed to go. But before he left, he had one more question. “Do you know your Servant’s Noble Phantasm? It’s good to know the tools you have in your belt.”

When Kaito couldn’t answer, they said their goodbyes and Samuel left. His teacher had raised a good point. “I need to talk to Caster anyway.”

***

As the sun started to fall below the horizon, the two oldest Masters arrived near the battlefield they had inspected that same morning, and kept moving until they hit the forest. They had no Association escort this time, and only one Servant between them. They were taking a hike deeper into the forest this time and stopped to look for clues all along the way. “Why are we here, old man? I mean, here in the woods. The wreckage happened back there.” Samuel pointed his thumb back over his shoulder.

“We know one person made it out alive. Most likely, they would have run in this direction to escape whatever had attacked and was hunting them.”

“Are you still focused on finding this mysterious lost child?” Even though Samuel would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious about the matter, he still poked fun. Mostly, he believed there was another explanation for the Grail’s disappearance, though he had yet to voice it.

Red Harvest took a deep breath, taking in nature’s air, and answered. “Having someone carry the Grail here is the only explanation for why the enemy doesn’t have it already.” He said all of this before realizing his companion wasn’t even paying attention to him. “Something the matter?”

Samuel rumbled around the dirt and found something small. “Somebody used magecraft here.” He pointed at a section of burnt leaves surrounding a small single white hair. The dirt was too dry to leave footprints though. “Where do you think it went from here?”

“I can’t really say for sure… Rider?” The Servant materialized behind them. “Do a quick sweep of the area, tell us everything you find.” Both Masters also scouted the area. By mere chance, they found another stack of singed leaves after some walking, and still another. Their search went like that for several minutes, leading them deeper into the forest until not much could be seen.

“It’s like a breadcrumb trail. Think it’ll lead us to a witch’s hut?” An oddly fitting joke, in retrospect, from Samuel. The trail ended near a huge burn mark on the ground. “You think there was a fight?” There were no more clues to be found. No more burn marks or leaves, and no remains of something hit by fire.

It would be the shaman’s keen eyes that found more details in their surroundings. “Maybe there was. Someone else used magecraft to summon these vines.” He gestured to a small patch of plant vines that stuck out of the ground. “But not only here. Those tree branches are hanging rather low. Some are broken, and others bloodied at the tips.”

The pyromancer pondered about it for a few seconds. “There are no blood trails or bodies anywhere nearby. Whatever happened, the target survived, and wasn’t affected much.”

Rider then reappeared with some news. “Nothing else from the surrounding area. No traces of magecraft, no footprints, nor blood trails.” It appeared that once again they would return empty-handed.

At least they would have, if they had been planning to go back. Samuel already had an extensive plan to follow. “Tell me: if you were lost in the forest, what would you do to find your way to civilization?”

The accompanying shaman tried to answer his question. “I’d probably follow a river. Better to keep a source of water close by.” He then perked up, finally catching onto what Samuel was really asking for and turned to his Servant. “Any bodies of water nearby? No matter how small.”

Rider stroked his chin. “There is, what appears to be, a stream further North, but I don’t think it’s what you have in mind. It’s all dried up.” Unfortunately it was the only thing that matched what they were looking for. They had Rider lead them there, and sure enough, it was an empty bed of dirt.

“It hasn’t been long since it happened.” The shaman knew it wasn’t natural for the whole stream to dry up suddenly, especially in what had been considered the most temperate season in years. “Let’s follow it...eh, upstream. Something must be amiss. Go scout ahead.”

They reached a zenith in their journey after walking up a small hill to go around the stream. Once at the top, an interesting picture unfolded in front of them. They could see a small clearing of land utterly destroyed. Rocks cluttered the forest floor surrounded by fallen, whole trees and huge mounds of upturned dirt. The destruction had hit the stream they were following along the way. In the middle of the fallout stood Rider, looking over the destruction. Both Masters climbed down to meet him.

When they got close enough, Red Harvest managed to see what his Servant was inspecting. It was the stain of what had been a huge pool of blood. “What do you make of this place, Rider?”

He decided to start with the obvious. “There was a fight here, and two people got hurt.” There was another smaller blood stain a few steps away. “There are no corpses though, and no blood trails indicating where they might have gone.” The lack of resolution was troubling. Whoever lost that much blood wouldn’t be in the best of conditions, and would most likely be unable to move. The fact that there was no sign of anyone else nearby only further muddied their thoughts. “The other stain is different though. I found these.” Several paw prints were deeply engraved in the dirt.

This piqued Samuel’s curiosity. “So this was caused by the same Servant that hit the convoy? What about the Grail, then. Any sign of it?” Rider shook his head and Samuel turned to his Master. “What do you think we should do?”

After taking in all the new information, and in consideration of the long day they had had, Red Harvest answered. “The Grail is moving, that seems obvious enough. But most importantly, someone is protecting it from the enemy.”

But it wasn’t enough for Samuel. “And this, ‘something’, do you think it’s on our side?” The shaman could only shrug, for he had no definitive answer.

Both Masters looked to Rider, as if waiting for an answer. “There was nothing else of interest. It’s probably a Servant that’s causing all of this, but there’s no way of knowing what side it’s on.”

Samuel sighed and kicked a rock. “Maybe we could take another look around, sweep for tracks on our own.” It seemed their leads had dried up like the streambed. A long day and barely anything to show for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, still hope someone is reading this and that you're enjoying this story!


	6. Night Seance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This feels a lot like filler but I'll defend it cause it's filled with character moments.

“Vasilisa! Wake up you stupid girl!” The old woman kicked me until I stood up. It was so early that the sun was barely past the edge of the world. I definitely hadn’t gotten enough sleep, yet the Servant insisted we awaken at this hour. “I’m going out today. You and your animal better have everything clean and food ready before I come back.”

I managed to catch her before she made her exit. “Wait grandma, what are you talking about? We have nothing to clean with, and there’s still plenty of food.”

The Servant hobbled over to the black cauldron resting on the chimney and tipped it over, revealing the thing was empty. There wasn’t even broth left. “There’s some rags in the kitchen and laundry in the basket. And you’d better cook plenty for the five of us.” With one last stink eye, and no further abuse, the Servant exited the cabin, leaving me alone in the house until Archer appeared a few seconds later.

I could see him shudder. “You don’t have to worry about the food, I’ll gather everything we need.” He figured it would be enough to do some light foraging.

“Before you go…” I reached out and found a wooden basket. “Could you gather some water? I’m going to need it to do the laundry.”

Archer took the basket and carried it close to his side. Suddenly I realized something weird about Archer’s stance. I snapped my fingers once I figured it out. “You’re not bending down anymore.” Archer only blinked in response. “Last night, the roof was so low you needed to hunch down to fit. Now you’re standing straight and there’s still room above your head.”

The realization hit Archer after that. “And I’m sure that kitchen was a lot smaller too.” That change was also subtle; I wouldn’t have noticed if Archer hadn’t pointed it out. “Yet, the door is still too small for me.” Truth be told, Archer still needed to bend down to exit the cabin. This whole change may be a weird thing to make a big deal out of, but it added to an overall eerie feeling this wooden cabin gave out. Even the laundry basket basically appeared out of nowhere, now that I thought about it.

After a bit Archer returned with the water I asked for. “Thanks…” I had noticed there was no soap to wash the laundry, which in turn made me notice that I was still using the same dirty clothes from when we were attacked. “Wish I could take a shower. I feel so dirty.”

Archer was quick to give a solution. “Well, the basket is big enough for you, why don’t you take a bath inside?”

I groaned. “That’s not the same, not without any soap or anything. I’ll just be bathing in my own filth. And I have no change of clothes either. It’s gonna be forever before we actually have a chance to do proper laundry.” I just started rambling after that. Sure, there was no other option at the moment, but this was the first time I had ever had to make do with no showers. “I can’t even brush my teeth!”

Archer took pity on me after seeing such a display. “Miss, could you hold out for one day?” My confused look was all I could offer in response. “I don’t think that Servant will be happy to let us go on our own, but if we can speak to her, maybe she’ll let us go pick up some things from a nearby town, and we can stay supplied for our entire stay.” There was no way of knowing when that Servant would return; it would be better to wait for her in the cabin.

***

It was a new day for the magus mercenary team. Each of the older Masters in the manor had a task to attend to, leaving the children mostly to their own devices. Kaito had been asked in particular to stay at their base with his Servant, mostly to check defenses and safeguards. As others left to carry out their own missions, the young Master looked for his Servant. He had some questions and general concerns to discuss.

Kaito found her on one of the balconies of the manor, sitting on the railing of the third floor admiring the view. “Hey, is everything alright?”

Caster looked back at her Master and gave him a small forced smile. “Oh, yes. The Association is so organized and professional. They pretty much have everything under control.”

This apparently didn’t sit well with her, judging by how she seemed to be moping. “And that bothers you?”

The woman clicked her tongue and answered. “They took care of everything already. The barriers, the traps, everything.” She pouted. “Pretty much left me with nothing to do.”

“Listen… is there something bothering you? Really bothering you?” Sometimes, being straight forward was the right way. “Not about the Association. You’ve been looking down ever since we arrived.”

Caster took a long look at her Master. “Do you know what tomorrow is?”

It was hard not to know. “Halloween?” Could it be that Caster was craving candy? Seeing Caster’s sullen expression told him that he was wrong. “Something important happened to you on a past date.”

It took a few moments for her to answer. “My husband died on October 31.”

Minutes of silence passed, as if hearing the news squelched further conversation. It wasn’t an easy piece of news to follow up on. “I’m sorry, Caster, I shouldn’t have said…”

“It’s not that entirely, though.” She interjected to expand. “What’s been eating up my mind is something else… It’s really a little ridiculous when I say it out loud.”

Kaito was eager to help his friend. “I’m sure it isn’t. You can tell me.”

His eagerness helped ease up the atmosphere. “Something my late husband asked of me.” Caster popped down from the railing and stood in front of her Master. “How much do you know about the Great Harry Houdini?”

Confused about that question, Kaito was only able to muster up a little information he had for his answer. “He was a famous escapist, right? Like, he was crazy about his stunts and the like… No offense.”

“None taken.” That did answer her question; Kaito knew basically nothing. “My husband and I dedicated part of our work to debunking fake spiritualists. Scammers that played on people’s sufferings to make a quick buck. That doesn’t mean we didn’t believe in spiritualism. Before my husband died, he told me to try to summon him every year on the anniversary of his death. To prove definitively if it was really possible to speak with the souls of the dead.”

“Oh, so with a séance, right?” Caster nodded in agreement. “He never answered?” Kaito could already guess the answer.

Caster hung her head low. “No, not to me or anyone else, ever. I kept at it for years until it was too hard to continue.”

Which drew a pretty clear picture for the teenager. “So you’re on the fence about trying it again? We can do that, no problem.”

This made his Servant jump in surprise.. “I-I don’t think we can just drop everything to hold a séance right now.”

Kaito responded with a huge supportive smile. “Sure we can! We only need to ask, and even if nobody helps us, who’s to say we can’t do it with just the two of us?”

She still wasn’t fully buying it. “I don’t know… tons of magi have tried it already…”

But he cut her off. “Yeah, but things are different now. You’re different now. If you’re a Heroic Spirit, summoned from the afterlife, surely we can do something.”

That raised a good point. Maybe in life, when her knowledge was so limited, working a successful séance was never an option, but between her own enhanced abilities from her new existence and her new friends, perhaps they could make this work. “You really think they’ll say yes?”

“Pretty sure they will.” He was convinced his teacher would agree to it. “But I should go ask them now before they all leave.” Doing just that, Kaito left Caster on the balcony as he practically skipped away, eager to get help.

***

“Tell me again, why are we walking to this place?” Samuel, Xiang, and Lancer had several unused and fully capable vehicles back at base, however, they suddenly found themselves hiking to a certain destination away from their base by the pyromancer’s orders. She turned to her Servant. “How are you feeling, by the way?”

Lancer stretched her limbs. Her left arm was still in a sling and covered in bandages, but the rest of her body and her mind were no longer numb. “Better now that I can take a long walk. Where are we going, anyway?”

Samuel jumped over a high wooden fence and stood ready to help the women jump over. “We were tasked with identifying enemy Masters. I already have a good idea to draw them out of hiding.” Both women jumped over the fence without help and Samuel shrugged in response. “I need you two to come with me because you’re the only ones that got a good look at the enemy during your little encounter.”

A big, run down barn could be seen in the distance and Samuel picked up the pace to get to it. “Sounds good to me. Find some foes, knock some heads. Beats staying in bed all day.” Just having something to do was enough to motivate this Servant.

But Samuel had to be forward and honest with them. “Actually, if we can avoid direct conflict, that would be great. And if we can lure the enemy out and reel them into a trap, even better.”

Surprisingly, it was Lancer that spoke up first, and to show her agreement no less. “Sounds about right. Fine with me.” This only won her a look of confusion from her Master. “But this country is so big, how can you be so sure the enemy will risk itself to exposure?”

Without trying to show his inner doubts, Samuel put a hand on the bar door. “It all comes back to something my Servant figured out. He’s been snooping around for only two days and he’s already found something interesting.” Swinging the barn door open, the three of them found something big hiding under a cloth. “So tonight, we hit the town in style.” Samuel pulled a large sheet off from the object, revealing a silver colored car. “So, ladies, I present to you, the Aston Martin DB5. Top of the line in spy ground vehicles.” The car in question was definitely vintage, but it looked as if it was fresh off the assembly line.

Lancer stared in amazement, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the automobile, while Xiang could only look on in disbelief. “Well, if your plan is to call attention to ourselves, this will certainly do the trick.” She could see Samuel pull something out of the trunk of the car.

“Only the best for us. But there’s only enough space for two. Lancer will have to stay in spiritual form for the trip.” This deflated the Servant, who let out a small groan. Samuel then handed Xiang and Lancer a tan duffle bag and kept a small black briefcase to his side. “Here is a change of clothing.”

“Is there something wrong with our clothing?” Asked Xiang, wearing her blue hoodie with torn up pants and old sneakers. Lancer still wore her sarashi with baggy pants and a pair of sandals. These were truly outfits boasting comfort.

Samuel tried finding the right words to explain. “No… but we are conducting a delicate operation here. Every detail has to be right down to the most miniscule detail.” He himself took out a chance of clothing from the trunk of the car. “I’ll change outside. Give you two some privacy.” It looked like Lancer was going to need help changing clothes anyway. “The dress is for you, Xiang, and the casual outfit for Lancer.”

After Samuel stepped out, Lancer turned to her Master for help. “He still hasn’t said where we’re going.”

Xiang took out the clothes and handed them to Lancer. “I promise I’ll ask him again on the way there.” She then looked at the dress she was supposed to wear. A white dress with long sleeves and a hem just above the knees. This came with a pair of black stockings and high heel boots. All of this complemented by a set of white gloves, most likely to hide her Command Seals. “Wish we could trade outfits.”

Once the pair was dressed and ready, Samuel reentered in his own new outfit. A black suit and tie. Fully black, from the shirt underneath the jacket to the glossy shoes he wore. “Alright, are you two ready to go?”

The only answer he got was Lancer disappearing and Xiang moving to the passenger side of the car. “Can you elaborate on the plan? And where did you get this car?”

“This car is my Servant’s Noble Phantasm. He left it here in case we needed a way to move without relying on the Association.” Samuel turned the engine on and the car started in a low purr as if it was the first time it had ever been started. “It’s all about money.” Xiang looked at him, puzzled. “If Vox Nihili is operating away from their home territory, they will need a steady flow of money to keep their forces supplied.” They started to drive out of the barn into the countryside.

Giving all the information she had been given a once over in her head, Xiang nodded. “They were hoping for a quick victory back in Japan. But do you really think they aren’t ready for a drawn out battle?”

“According to you and the reports we have about the attack on Japan, they are not only organized, but already have an identity set up. They have names and a hierarchy to their ranks that was clearly prepared beforehand. The strange thing is about their grunts. Obviously, there’s no shortage of ways to build an army. Yet, rather than use homunculi or golems like any other magi would do, their soldiers are human.” He paused for Xiang to understand the implications. “Even if we consider the advantages of using real people in your ranks, they are bound to need the same necessities as any other regular army. Food, water, and shelter.”

Connecting the dots was easy from then on. “Feeding all those mouths must be a huge monetary burden. And if the Association hasn’t somehow caught their money transfers or any form of a paper trail-”

“All their money must come from underground sources. Yes.” They probably paid in cash to avoid leaving any trace. “It’s here where things get a little… complicated. Assassin rounded up some intel about organized crime in a nearby city. We will use that information to meet up with their leaders and see if they know something about our enemies.” It was a long shot, but it was the only solid lead they had. “Either way, Assassin is still out there as we speak, and he doesn’t really need to sleep, so we’ll continue learning more as we go.

With the plan laid out, Xiang still had lingering questions. “And if we do find the enemy today, what’s the plan?”

“Well, like I already said, we’ll try to avoid direct combat. If we can get one of their soldiers to answer some questions, that would be ideal.” They could consider their hostage options if, and when, they crossed that bridge.

“So I’m to guess we aren’t going in as Association Masters for this mission?” Against Masters and Servants, she could understand a more ruthless approach, but against normal criminals it made sense to show restraint.

“Yes. Don’t get me wrong; I know you’re more than capable of beating the information out of them, but if we were to arouse suspicions, the enemy might catch wind of us.” Xiang seemed satisfied, so Samuel had a few questions of his own. It was going to be a long ride, so better to pass the time with some small talk than in complete silence. “So, when I called the temple, I didn’t expect them to send their top fighter to me.” Despite her age, this monk’s exploits were legendary. “What made you agree to this? It couldn’t have been the pay.”

“If you’re asking about my wish, it’s nothing that fancy or spectacular.” She paused, as if in realization. “My country has seen great atrocities. I only wish to take some of that suffering away.” It was something she had never asked herself before. She knocked on the roof. “Lancer, what is your wish?”

They waited for a few minutes but there was no answer. Samuel decided to continue anyway. “Well, I haven’t been in China for a long time, but aren’t things changing for the better these days?”

Distracted by her Servant’s silence, Xiang nonetheless answered. “Even in our temple, we still hear about the difficulties our people have to deal with. There must be something the Grail can do about it. And you? What moves the Dragon’s Breath to risk his life in this war?” She asked, with a small smirk.

Samuel already had his answer. “I’m going to pick the boring answer and say I’m in it for the money.”

Despite his vocal confidence, Xiang’s next words took him by surprise. “I don’t believe that.” Maybe this monk had more insight than her brute tactics let on. “What about the people you brought with you: those two kids and the old woman?” She received no clear answer. “I’m sure you’re working especially hard to look after them.”

Though he didn’t totally accept that assessment, the exchange had lightened Samuel’s mood. “Listen, because I like you, I’m going to give you some advice. Don’t ever let Roberta hear you calling her an ‘old woman’. She isn’t as forgiving as I am.”

Xiang audibly chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind.” She’d also try to remember their names. They were important to him, and to her they seemed like good people.

***

As the day advanced, another pair was finding the Grail in their own way. Roberta and Red Harvest, each followed by their respective Servant, were to pick up the search where the other group had left it yesterday. With what the others had seen, they had enough information to guide themselves around. It was an area consisting mostly of dense forests, with some nearby plateaus and on the outskirts, a few roads that took you to nearby towns.

Roberta drove them in a small jeep borrowed from the Association, and they stopped not far from where they had found the destroyed clearing. “The Grail. How are you so sure it’s moving on its own?”

The old shaman was already trying to pick up some kind of trail from the surrounding area as he answered. “There are rumors surrounding the Fuyuki Grail that would be foolish to ignore. There are not many people who would know about it. Over there they keep quiet about what goes on, but they can’t keep rumors from spreading.” He paused to flip over a piece of debris. “I’m worried about our contact within the Association. It’s clear that he is keeping secrets from us.”

Roberta had to stop herself from scoffing. “It sounds like you just want to be proven right. Whether the Grail is a cup, or the Association is lying to us, we should only focus on getting the Grail back. That is our end goal.”

Red Harvest could find nothing of a trail to follow, and that Rider couldn’t find one either left him frustrated. “It surprises me how quickly you follow orders. It’s very unlike your mother.”

As Roberta passed a small sigh, she prepared a response. But before she could say anything, Berserker appeared at her side, tugging at her sleeve. “Mom, I smell blood.” Suddenly reinvigorated, it didn’t take Rider long to pinpoint the scent and follow it downwind. A small distance away, they came across a fresh puddle of blood; fresh enough that it hadn’t even soaked into the ground completely. Berserker took a deep whiff before assessing “Some of it is human blood.”

“The trail continues over here.” From a distance Rider could be heard, having found a small blood trail.

Impressed at the speed of their success, Roberta was also feeling a bit off after that last comment. “We’ve got our trail. I say we follow it in silence for a while.” This proved difficult, as the trail of blood seemed to go on and on with no apparent end. It got to the point where, despite her words, Roberta ended up breaking the silence. “It’s been a long time since you last showed your face. What made you come out of retirement?”

“Well, the grand prize is a free wish. Very few people would pass on that.” His gaze was turned to the ground the whole time, scanning for more clues.

“Yes, ‘free’. You only have to pay with your life. What is your wish, anyway?” She received no answer, which made her wonder if it was personal. “Can’t say I’m in it for the wish...Berserker, why did you answer the summon? What is it you want?”

As both Servants were talking alongside their Masters, Berserker was in position for a quick answer. “I just want to stay with you forever!” The child ran towards Roberta and gave her his biggest hug, to her surprise.

Still, she reciprocated with a hug of her own. “Aww, you’re just so cute. I’d be happy if you stayed with me.” It was a sight that rubbed both of their companions the wrong way. It was as if his presence was getting progressively heavier with each second. Then suddenly, it stopped, right as they disconnected their embrace.

All this made Red Harvest want to change the subject. “I think Rider and are I fairly in sync when it comes to this matter.”

Rider elaborated for his Master. “My Master and I want to help our people, or rather, we want to free our people from the oppression they live day by day.”

The topic filled the men with a sense of conviction, driving them to explain further. “I was born at the turn of the century. I have spent all my life witnessing how my people are used by this country without consideration. I even worked alongside this government, helping them with anything they asked for during wartime. Yet none of it ever helped me, or my people in the long run. Can you really fault me for jumping at the chance for an all powerful Holy Grail?”

The woman could only smile in response. “Not at all. It’s not my place to say which path you should follow to make your dream a reality. However, if I were being honest, I didn’t take you for an idealist.”

“A sure way to make dreams real can make anyone into an idealist.” He sighed. “I remember quite well that your mother thought much the same as you.” This brought up something he felt he should acknowledge. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I missed her funeral.”

Roberta was quick to put it behind her. “Oh, don’t worry about it. Were you two really that close?”

That made him think for a moment. “I’d like to say yes, but in reality, I don’t know that she was close to anybody. She grew independent very quickly. She accepted the magic crest at an early age and refused help, from me or anyone else.”

The woman chuckled. “Yeah, that sounds like my mom. If it makes you feel any better, she always mentioned you were family to her. Was that true?”

“Well, her teacher was my nephew, which made her my adopted granddaughter, and you my great-granddaughter.” Upon saying this, some self-reflection made him realize he had distanced himself from two sets of family.

The realization only hit harder with Roberta’s next comment. “Now it makes sense why Samuel was always your favorite.”

Red Harvest knew what she meant. He had kept in contact with the pyromancer all these years and had never spoken to her despite everything. “...I closed myself to the world shortly after your mother died.” This was actually due to unrelated reasons, but he could see now that it had been a time where Roberta and Samuel were in dire need of support. “There’s nothing I could say to excuse my lack of action, and I know that.”

“It’s not like that.” The last thing she needed was to have the old man distracted by past errors right now, but Roberta knew that he deserved to hear what she thought. “You can thank my mother for this; she raised her daughter and apprentice to be as independent as she was. Don’t go moping around in regret for leaving after she died. We had each other for support.”

This still didn’t excuse what he did, nor did it particularly make him feel any less guilty. But he could see that the trail had no end in sight, so Red Harvest made a decision to speed things up. “Rider, follow the trail further on your horse and come back to us once you find where it ends.” With a whistle, the Servant summoned his steed and galloped on deeper into the forest, following the trail of blood.

It was a task that should have taken minutes at most, yet it took Rider close to an hour to come back, and not in a way they expected. They had long since all sat down to wait, and at one point even considered following behind, but eventually Rider returned, from behind them, as if he had ridden in a big circle around the forest. It was hard to believe, but his Master asked anyway. “Did you get lost?”

The one who looked the most confused was Rider himself. “No. I followed the trail as you asked of me. But after some time there was still no end in sight, so I decided to gallop faster. It was then that I ran into you here again.”

Roberta made a simple deduction. “Could it be the forest?” Maybe it was the whole area round them that was looping itself. “It’s either us or the forest, and if you haven’t noticed, this blood is still fresh no matter how much time passes.”

“But, mom, the blood is real. I can smell it!” Berserker pointed out.

By now they had entirely halted their investigation, and were fully focused on this new predicament. Something definitely felt off about this forest. “We picked up the blood trail because Berserker caught the smell down wind. Do any of you still feel the wind blowing?” Roberta could indeed, but that was only a part of her point. She picked up some soil and let it go in the air, watching as it plummeted straight to the ground, with no force from the wind having any effect on it. “Could this be an enemy trap?”

Red Harvest answered quickly. “No other possible explanation. So how do we escape?” Walking away was not an option; they were firmly in the trap now. Still, they could at least be commended for staying calm under pressure.

Roberta looked around worriedly. “I really wish Caster was here right now.” She stared at the back of her hand, weighing her options. “What if we used the Command Seals? We order our Servants to free themselves from this illusion and then they help us from the outside.”

It was a sound idea, and Red Harvest nodded, but with reservation. “Can you really afford to lose one Seal?” He was hesitant to waste one so needlessly if they could potentially come up with other solutions.

The woman nodded, determined. “It’s either this or we wait for the enemy to attack us while we’re defenseless.” She raised her fist keeping it close to her heart, and asked. “Are you ready for this?” The old shaman did the same and they both spoke their command.

“Berserker, free yourself from this illusion.”

“Rider, free yourself from this illusion.”

Both Servants heard their Master’s orders, and the Command Seals were erased. They could feel the mana of the complex spell flow up through their body into their mind, and then away. In less than a second, both of them awoke in the very same forest, in the same spot they had been trapped in, but they were trapped no longer. The puddle of blood which had been the initial omen was now dried up.

“We never moved a single step from here.” Rider spoke in mild amazement, noticing also that his horse had never been summoned, and also that both Masters stood motionless in the area. The Servants soon shook off their surprise and raised their guard. “Can you sense the enemy?”

Berserker had his knives ready for battle and looked all around, trying to find the enemy that had trapped them. With only trees dancing in the wind, it was hard to sense anything by sight alone. “I got it!” Luckily Berserker was not hindered by mundane obstacles and was able to catch a small glimpse of the enemy’s essence and prepared himself for battle. He immediately jumped high into the trees and leapt into pursuit.

“Wait!” Rider tried calling him but the kid was too fast. Their Masters must take priority in this situation. With the enemy so far away, maybe Rider could still wake the rest of the group and follow Berserker.

The child Servant followed the enemy’s essence, jumping between the tall trees of the forest, dead set on finding the enemy responsible for threatening his mother. The pursuit took longer than he anticipated, but he was finally able to corner the enemy, launching forward and striking at it with his weapons. Unfortunately, due to the foliage, he wasn’t able to get a good look at his foe. The attack ended up knocking the two of them to the ground and Berserker quickly stood and prepared himself for battle.

Yet this opponent chose not to fight, preferring to retreat into the forest. Again, Berserker tried to rush into combat, but his enemy was quick to circle around him and get out of his reach. Still, the enemy was lingering around the area, as if baiting the Servant to chase after it, and Berserker was quickly growing tired of this game. After more feints and near misses, Berserker decided to try another approach. He wasn’t about to retreat but instead was standing still and waiting for the enemy to make a mistake. All he needed was one moment. This enemy seemed to be no great proponent of close combat, so giving it a chance to attack and trying a reversal could be the way to win.

But as he stood there, in the middle of the forest, surrounding himself with his own mist, something bizarre began to happen. His mist became thicker, without him making it so. The wind had stopped blowing, which wasn’t bad; now the mist wouldn’t get blown away. The timing of it, though, didn’t sit well with him. This was not helped by the fact that his foe had disappeared. “I am the mist…” A mysterious voice spoke from inside the mist, echoing in the forest. “I am the mist, and the mist is me... Your weapons… are useless...” Once again, the mist thickened around Berserker.

Hands began to form; white, gnarled hands made out of the same mist that surrounded the Servant. They reached out and quickly grabbed at the boy. The Servant was quick enough to take a swing at the shadowy appendages, scattering them with ease. However, more hands continued to come. An endless supply of grabbing, groping, hands. Berserker even tried to completely dismiss the mist he had created but that soon proved to be useless, as it seemed he had lost control of his own ability in the blink of an eye.

While he was still busy fighting the mist hands, the true enemy approached him quietly from behind, so silent that Berserker wasn’t able to feel it until the moment it stood behind him. Sensing the danger and the murderous intent, he spun around to meet the enemy with the edge of his knife, doing so with enough force to split the enemy in two. But to his surprise, he was stopped by the enemy placing a single hand over his face. The hand covered his eyes, again hiding the enemy from his sight, and bound him to the spot. It was not that the enemy sapped away his strength, but more that it used some kind of enchantment on him, leaving him unable to move a single muscle voluntarily.

The hand felt cold and almost skeletal. “I see…” It was the same voice that had permeated the mist before. “I already have one of you… Should I take you though…?” Berserker tried once again to move his body. He tried with every fiber of his being, clenching his teeth and willing his arm to move. Then he was finally able to take a swing, only to realize the enemy was no longer in front of him.

In fact, the only person in front of him was his own Master, and the woman was only just able to dodge the knife at the last moment. “Berserker, it’s me! What happened?” The Servant paused, taking a quick look around. There was no more mist, but that wasn’t the only thing that had changed. It was later in the day too, and the sun was almost set, and Rider and his Master were also there. “I… I think I blacked out for a couple of minutes.” It was the only thing he could come up with.

“It was probably closer to an hour. We found you just like that. Standing upright yet absolutely still.” Red Harvest summarized. “Was it an enemy Servant?”

“Y-Yes! I was fighting against it and somehow it was able to do this to me!” The boy yelled out in a bit of panic and some surprise and anger.

Roberta did a once-over on him to make sure he wasn’t hurt. “It looks like you got a hit in.” She pointed at the knife in his right hand, which had a thin layer of blood on it. “I say we call this a win and go back home.”

The old shaman nodded. “I doubt the enemy would linger here after everything that happened.” He sighed in resignation. “Another walk in these forsaken woods that ends with nothing.” At this point it was better to regroup and explain what had happened and wait for further clues about the Grail.

***

Now, if my timing is correct, I was just finishing with the last of the laundry. Yet this was my first time washing, and by hand no less, so my hands ached and blistered. This plus, because of our location, I had to hang the clothing to dry inside the cabin. This meant I had to relocate almost everything in the house in order to make room. It felt like it took hours, and tiredness hit me like a tidal wave.

Elsewhere in the forest, Archer finished his food run. Bringing in little meat (mostly squirrels), but with a ton of wild vegetables. Once he got home, we tossed it all in the pot and had another stew. It wasn’t a glamorous meal, but we were happy to just get something edible.

Just as we were finishing dinner, we could hear the unbalanced gait of grandma arriving, and it took her a few minutes to drag herself inside. She was looking exhausted, and was hunched over more than before. I approached her, trying to help her walk. “Did something happen?” The Servant didn’t answer, but only kept walking and sat down on her chair. “Do you want to-” She then began having a coughing fit, and a loud one at that. I passed her a clean rag so she could cover her mouth and as she settled down, I noticed that the rag had blood on it. As I realized something was wrong, I also spotted that she was bleeding from her left side. “Archer, help me here!”

Archer took over for me, checking her wounds. “There’s nothing much we can do. The wound isn’t that big and it’s already closing. We Servants will be able to fix ourselves given enough time and mana, so long as our spirit core isn’t harmed.”

Before we knew it, she had fallen asleep like a lump on the chair. “I’ll get some blankets for her.” At the very least, this meant the bed was free for me that night. While Archer and I were eating the dinner we so painstakingly made, I asked. “You think she got into a fight?”

He looked over at the motionless pile. “This is a war; I suppose that’s the most likely explanation. I’ll keep watch outside tonight in case she was followed.”

“Either way, we shouldn’t stay here much longer. Let’s pack things and leave tomorrow morning.” We could only hope grandma would feel better by then. It wouldn’t be possible for us to travel with a wounded companion.

***

At this late hour, Samuel’s group had already reached their destination. They were still in the car, parked in an alley alongside other cars, discussing the last details of the plan. “How lucky are you, Xiang?”

It was an odd question. “Can’t say I have an answer to that. Why do you ask?”

Samuel pointed at the office building in front of them. It was a simple building with three floors, very few windows, and no other distinguishing features. “That’s our target tonight. Inside that building, the local crime family runs an illegal casino. According to Assassin, this place is the backer for our enemies.” With that said, the man pulled the briefcase from before. “Now I don’t think the heads of this group would just let us walk in and talk about it, so we are going to play their games for awhile. Once we’ve won enough money, I assume they will want to talk to us.”

It all sounded fine, even if maybe a bit too glamorous for her. “Don’t you think that will take us too long?” She said this, knowing a direct approach was unlikely. “I’m guessing that briefcase is full of money?”

Indeed, once the pyromancer opened up the case, Xiang could see it was carrying quite a hefty sum of cash. Samuel took a few wads out. “I hit one of my stashes before we left London. This should be enough for tonight. Call out your Servant.”

Outside of the car, by the driver side window, appeared Lancer. “You need me to do some legwork?”

He handed Lancer a small part of his cash. “Take this and go inside without us. Play the tables or do whatever, but I want you to keep an eye open for trouble.” They needed to appear like two groups instead of coming in like one. “Go in first and we’ll follow after a bit.”

Lancer accepted the cash, a few thousand dollars, and said. “Sure, I’ll see if I can win some, uh, for the plan!” Making her way inside, Lancer was only scanned for weapons by metal detectors, but past that, she was left alone to make her way upstairs into the casino. The whole place looked completely different from what you’d expect looking at the outside. Low lights covering the tables, wooden floors leading up to intricate boiseries, and an elegant well-stocked bar to one side all gave the place a classy vibe. The center of the room was filled with game tables, with several gamblers flocked around, while on the outsides of the room there were smaller tables for other patrons.

The Servant exchanged her cash for chips and began wandering around the tables. She had no idea what she was looking for; there was nothing out of the ordinary in plain sight. This was good, she supposed, but she wanted to do something to help the mission. The two Masters had already entered and tried to avoid eye contact with Lancer. As they went off to buy their chips, she decided to sit down at the roulette table.

Both Masters meanwhile took a look around the whole place. “What do you think we should play first?” Samuel asked his companion.

As she clung to his arm (a begrudging part of the plan), Xiang shrugged. “I’m not familiar with casino games. Pick whatever.” The young woman had noticed pretty quickly the security guards that made rounds. There were also cameras hidden around the room, and a closer look at the waitresses showed that they could also serve as rule enforcement. “Not like I’ll be the one playing anyway.”

Samuel had only used part of his money, deciding to keep the rest as a safety net. “You never know. Can’t say I’m that lucky.” As he spotted the bar to the side. “It goes without saying, but keep an eye open for anything weird.”

Roulette seemed like the perfect game for Lancer. It was all about luck, and she had that in spades. With ten thousand dollars in chips, she settled down at the table with the least people. Without doubts in her mind yet deciding to start strong and one spin of the wheel later her bet paid up. “Great!”

What followed were several more successful bets. Lancer began growing more confident in her bets and tried being a little more bold with her money. She placed a street bet double the amount of her first bet, knowing she could get eleven times her bet when she won. Like before, the roulette wheel spun and the little metal ball began spinning with it.

Of course, as a Servant, Lancer’s eyes were so good she could practically see the little ball move in slow motion on the wheel. It didn’t help her play fair, but it did give her the chance to spot how unnaturally the ball moved in each spin, as if it was “attracted” to the zero spots. It just didn’t make sense with the momentum it had in the moment. Slowly the smile disappeared from Lancer’s face, and she tried it again. The same amount of money, this time betting on a whole column. The dealer happily took her bet and the wheel spun once more. Again, Lancer could see the ball being called to a specific area this time, not just the zeroes, and completely miss every number in her column. Now she was noticeably scowling; the last two bets showed there was foul play in here. She didn’t know how, but that was the only explanation she could draw.

Now, being played for a fool wasn’t something the Servant took too kindly, and any other day she would have laid the dealer flat on the ground already. But today, she felt like playing along for a bigger reward. Lancer went back to smiling and placed another bet. A ludicrous one: two thousands dollars on just the number eight. With such a large amount on a single number, such a threat guaranteed the dealer was going to pull the trick again. That didn’t matter to the Servant though; she was going to win either way.

The wheel started to spin and the ball was released. The dealer might as well have not cheated, since betting on a lone number had less than a three percent chance of paying out. With this amount of money on the line, though, he decided not to risk it. All roulette tables in this casino had a couple of concealed buttons by the dealer’s side that activated a couple of electromagnets in the wheel. With that installed, the dealer needed only to switch the normal brass ball to one with a steel core and activate the precise magnet to move the ball into the desired positions. Essentially, making the ball miss Lancer’s bet was as easy as pressing a button. When the special ball landed on twenty, the dealer let out a sigh of relief. And yet,...

“I won!” Lance raised her good arm up in the air in triumph as the dealer scrambled to find out how she was wrong. But her bet was indeed the number twenty, thirty five times her two thousand bet, leaving the young woman with seventy thousand dollars in winnings.

This, understandably, shocked everyone, from the players to the dealers to the security. The nearby guards had been trying to look like they weren’t watching that table, so unfortunately they hadn’t gotten a good look at the bet, but the dealer could have sworn he saw an eight before. “Hey, what’s the hold up here?” Lancer spoke simply. “This is clearly my win. Aren’t you going to pay out?”

But the dealer was used to standing his ground. He only needed a moment to gather himself. “I’m sorry, but that wasn’t your bet…”

“What are you saying? My chips are there, can’t you see them?” Lancer had arranged her bet in two stacks of ten, one hundred dollar chips. All of that being in one small square might explain why the dealer seemed confused. The stacks completely covered the number she was betting on, and both eight and twenty were black. It would seem the dealer got so sidetracked by the amount of money on the table that he completely missed the number he was supposed to be looking out for. Even the rest of the players had no idea what had happened, but they also weren’t about to let the casino drop a bet just because it hadn’t gone their way.

Luckily, before any rioting could happen, a guard named Bruneau stepped forward and put a hand on Lancer’s bad shoulder. He could see that the arm was in a sling, and he spoke in a thick creole drawl. “The problem here, miss, is the dealer doesn’t have enough to cash you out. If you’ll come with me, the cashier will give you your winnings.” Lancer followed the man across the large room, with all her chips in her arms. “Just letting you know, you’re banned from the roulette, and the dice games too.” The guard spoke just loud enough for the Servant to hear, and his tone stated that he meant business. Lancer took this tone as a threat. “I’ve never seen sleight of hand that fast before, but I know you moved your chips after the ball stopped. Probably did it when everyone was busy looking at the wheel.” Once the two of them arrived at the window, he informed the cashier of the situation and asked them to bring the money out. “You can still play poker, those tricks won’t help you there, but I suggest you cash out and leave.”

Now alone, and with all her new chips in hand, Lancer had a huge smile on her face. Indeed, this whole place was looking for a fight, and she was more than happy to give them one. Another thing that fired her up was what she felt like she was adding to the plan. Samuel had said they should get the house’s attention, and now she had it. Just a little push more, and they’d have what they came for, whatever that was. So what if she couldn’t cheat in poker? Lancer didn’t need any kind of trick to win against this band of criminals.

Now their whole group was busy at poker, on different tables of course. Samuel quickly amassed winnings for himself; acting the drunk, happy old man came easy to him. Even Xiang had taken to her role, that of a bodyguard hiding under the eye candy facade, keeping an eye open on her Servant and other patrons while laughing along every time Samuel scored a win. While Lancer’s efforts to catch the attention of the house was an antagonistic one. He figured, if he was gaining enough money, the house might invite him upstairs rather than let him walk away.

However, it would take awhile for this to work. In the meantime, a stranger sat down at Lancer’s table. “This seems to be a lucky table, mind if I join you?” The woman had been alone at the table up until now, since no one else wanted to go against her string of luck. A new face didn’t bother her in the slightest. The man called the waitress to fill his empty glass. “What are you drinking?”

Lancer was caught off guard by the question. She wasn’t paying much attention to the man, instead waiting for the next round of betting. And anyway, she hadn’t had a drink since she got here. “Whatever you’re having.”

“Are we betting high, or are you fine playing it safe?” This was a powerful, sturdy man of blond hair and blue eyes. His gaze reflected a sharp personality and his light scowl showed he meant business. The most his mouth would move is into a light smile during their conversation. He was dressed in a finely cut dark blue suit over a white shirt, but wore no tie.

Lancer took a glance at her large stack of chips and answered. “Let’s go small, I don’t really mind.”

Without missing a beat, the dealer dealt in the newcomer. Lancer received a terrible hand, a five and a three of different suits, so it was up to the dealer’s cards to put together something usable. Their drinks arrived while the players were still thinking over their hands and the dealer revealed the first three cards, not helping Lancer’s hand in the slightest. “Can I ask what happened?” He gestured towards her arm.

“Got into a fight.” Was as much as Lancer was willing to share.

He was quick to retort. “I’d like to see the other guy.”

But Lancer wasn’t about to let him distract her from the game. It was betting time, and Lancer placed a small bet, which the man was quick to match, and another card was revealed. This is when Lancer’s luck began to show.

Right now, the dealer’s hand was a seven, one ace, and two fours, which meant the Servant was one card short of a straight. Altogether it was still an unlucky hand, one with such low chances, but it was either a straight or praying to end up with two pairs, and even that was a worse hand. Lancer took another look at her opponent and caught the man mid-sip.

He looked confident while drinking his martini. Well, actually, he looked unfazed by the whole game, but a strong poker face was necessary when playing cards. Maybe she could make him fold without much of a fight. Once the betting came around again, Lancer doubled it, closing in on everything the man carried with him. He took one look at all the money she was betting and said. “I thought you were fine playing small.” Despite this, he called her bet, putting almost all of his money on the line, keeping a pair of chips to himself.

Lancer was a bit annoyed with his persistence but let it go. With the last card revealed as one lousy eight, she knew she absolutely had to make the man fold. But this was the last round of betting, and the man only had two chips left. Maybe this wasn’t an option anymore. There was something about how confident he looked that made her want to knock him over. Here he was, about to lose everything, but he looked more than ready to face her. Nonetheless, Lancer upped her bet by a few more chips.

“You know, part of me was hoping you’d take pity on me.” This made Lancer smile. “So, you really think I should bet my last two chips on this hand?” He picked up the chips in question, moving them in between his fingers.

“I don’t know. I’m fine with you folding.” The young woman leaned back, smug.

He chuckled. “Oh, but where’s the fun of that?” Without dropping the chips, the man leaned forward. “No matter how you look at it, I have no way of matching your bet. You’re taking all these risks and won’t win anything close to matching that.”

Lancer followed suit, leaning in closer to the man herself. “Yeah, but what’re you gonna do? There’s nothing about you that I want.” She tried for a low blow to his ego. Maybe that would take him down a notch.

“You sure? What about another drink?” He pointed at Lancer’s glass, now empty. The Servant hadn’t even noticed how fast she drank. “Whoever loses owes a drink to the winner.”

Now with both of them back in their seats, Lancer answered. “Sure, but you’d have to throw all your chips down first.” Despite all the posturing, the game had to go on. With bets placed, the dealer signaled them to reveal their hands.

So the dealer had a pair of fours, a seven, an eight, and an ace. Lancer’s hand was a five and a three. To her delight, the other man’s hand was a three and a two. This technically meant Lancer won by having the high card. The ridiculousness of the whole situation finally caught up to her, resulting in a laughing fit. “What’s so funny?” He was trying to be a good loser, but the way she laughed took him by surprise.

After regaining some composure. “You bet everything, made that little side bet with me and all, on that bad of a hand. Why?”

The man finished his drink before answering. “Maybe I wasn’t after your money. Maybe I just really want to buy you that drink.” Again, both of them smiled at each other. “Catch.” He tossed one of his chips to her, which she caught deftly before putting it in her pocket.

Before they could move to the bar, though, a pair of security guards grabbed Lancer by the shoulders. Bruneau walked up alongside, sighing. “You’re done at the tables, lady. And the rest of the place too. You were warned.”

As the guards pulled her up, the man was quick to stand up to them. “Cut that out, can’t you see she is injured?” Lancer quickly signaled to him to stand down, smiling all the way as the guards efficiently removed her from the casino.

***

At almost the same time, Samuel and Xiang were offered a private table on the upper floors by the owner. Both Masters stepped into a room that looked like a small waiting area, with two sofas and a couple of high chairs at a private bar on one side, and a group of security monitors on the other. There they were received by the manager: a man dressed in a loud purple suit, and younger than most of the guards there, not that that stopped him from flaunting his authority. “Ah, the guests of the hour! We just need a couple of minutes to ready your table. Would you like a drink?” 

There was no hint of the same charming accent that most of the staff held. No, despite his heritage, Francois “Frank” Bourgeois had gone to great lengths to adopt the standard accent of Hollywood and all the mannerisms and trappings that came from his favorite films. He thought it made him seem more official as a businessman.

Samuel and Xiang sat down on one of the sofas. “Sure, lovely place you have here.” The woman was quick to placate, without dropping her smile. “You run a tight ship.”

“Thank you for the compliment, my dear.” Their guard escort still hadn’t left, instead lingering by the monitors. “Tell me, where did you hear of our fine establishment?”

“A friend of ours said we should visit if we were ever in the city.” Samuel answered, raising his glass to punctuate the statement.

Before the manager continued, more guards entered the room. “Glad we’re getting free advertising out there.” The manager kept talking as he poured himself a drink. “You know, it’s not easy managing this whole place. One has to be observant about every single detail out there.” The atmosphere was beginning to slowly weight down on the Masters. “You have to notice the kind of people that enter, their intentions, how they act, the amount of money they are willing to bet…”

Xiang seemed slow on the uptake, but Samuel cut the man off when he caught onto his intentions, dropping his facade instantly. “So, are you going to ask us about the other girl that arrived with us now or do you just like the sound of your own voice?”

Frank smiled a toothy grin, just like he’d seen traditional movie tough guys do, and said. “We also have cameras in the parking lot. Maybe your friend forgot to mention them. The one who came with you took a hefty amount from our tables and we even caught her cheating on camera.” Xiang groaned in silence, unable to help herself. “So, are you with any group or did you really think you could just rip us off by yourselves?”

“My good man, who said we were trying to rip you off?” Samuel was still trying to solve this with words. There was no need to make this physical. Yet. “I only wanted to have a conversation with the boss, and seeing as how you run the place, this is exactly where I want to be.”

Refusing to hear lies and excuses, Fank called the guards forward. “Take them to the loading bay, we can beat the answers out of him there.”

Samuel could see the guards about to lay a hand on Xiang, and the woman had an angry scowl on her face already. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

To his credit, the guard took a moment to reconsider his actions, and exchanged glances with his boss before continuing. It went against his better judgment, but it was better than getting berated. The same moment his hand touched her, in a swift motion faster than anyone could see, Xiang decked the man in the chin. It took him two or three seconds to register what had happened, then he collapsed in a heap. The little punch froze everyone, and the sound of his body hitting the ground with a loud thud only built up the tension.

Xiang stood up, ready to take on the rest of them. “Now, you could try your odds at taking us out, or you could answer my question.” With the manager just stared in disbelief at the passed out man, Samuel took that as a yes. The pyromancer proceeded to remove his right glove, and Xiang did the same. “Tell me, have you seen anyone with marks like these?”

The Masters showed their Command Seals to the manager. If the previous scene had only startled him, this sight made his heart sink into his gut. “Oh, no. You’re with those lunatics.”

***

After a few drinks, Frank and his boys had calmed down enough to have a real conversation. “These guys appeared one day out of nowhere, and with enough information about us to rival the FBI. They started talking about paying them tribute to keep ‘em quiet, so obviously we tried to kill them. I mean, who the fuck blackmails the mafia, right?”

“Guessin’ that didn’t go as planned.” Samuel poured some more alcohol to keep the answers coming.

“The asshole started sending us our hitmen’s heads one by one. Soon enough nobody wanted to take the contract. My superiors told me to pay them up while they thought up another plan to be rid of those guys.” He took another nervous sip of his drink before continuing. “It helps that they don’t ask for much, but I doubt we’re the only ones being squeezed.”

With this new information Samuel only had one question. “When’s the next delivery?” Both the manager and the guards were hesitant to answer. “Are you really going to hold out now?”

“Hey! We hate those guys as much as you, probably.” The scared man didn’t have enough information about these two to know for sure. “But I can’t just run my tongue and expect to keep it. These are family secrets.”

“We can take care of them.” Spoke the monk. It was a perfect opportunity to get payback for the ambush she received.

Samuel looked at his companion and back to the criminals. “You heard her. Give us the information, and we will get rid of your little issue.”

The manager looked down, seeing no other options. Those religious fanatics had been walking all over his group ever since they arrived. Yet, his superiors had delegated this job to him. If anything went wrong, it’d be his life. “I-I don’t have that info. One of their people sets up the time and place to deliver the money, usually at the last minute.”

Both Masters shared another look between them and Samuel began scribbling something on the back of a napkin. “Alright, guys, this is our number. You call us when you have the information we need to set them up.” He left the napkin on the table and began to walk towards the door.

One of the other guards yelled out from behind. “H-Hey! Who do you think you are, trying to boss us around.”

“We are offering to solve your problem. You are nothing to us but a small part of our enemy’s support that keeps us from victory. Be thankful we aren’t putting your place to the torch, with all of you in it.” This from the small woman who took out their leader froze them all in place again. It helped that she was using her stern voice. “Where’s the other woman we came with?”

“Uh, she was escorted to the loading bay…” Frank managed to stutter out, before realizing it might have been a bad answer. “It wasn’t long ago… maybe they haven’t done anything yet...”

He decided it would be better to just move everyone downstairs. It was a trip that would cement just how much this strange group of individuals wasn’t to be messed with. The blonde woman, escorted downstairs specifically to be beaten for cheating, wasn’t only unscathed, but she was the only one that wasn’t injured. The guards who had escorted Lancer down all had bloody noses and at least one purple eye, with some holding their sides or other body parts in pain. Lancer sat down in a nearby chair, with one of the less maimed guards pouring her a drink, with the rest cowering at a distance.

At the sight of the Masters arriving, Lancer stood. “You got everything we need?”

Her Master answered. “Sure, I’ll tell you all about it on the drive back.” As they prepared to leave, they only needed to clear up some details with their new friends.

Something felt off with Lancer, though. Xiang had seen this look on her face before. It was one of annoyance with a little anger, topped off with silent fuming. “What’s wrong? I thought you’d be happy to fight someone.”

“Bah! They were barely even a fight. It’s not that anyway. I’m just not going to get that drink now.” Lancer reached inside her pocket, ignoring her Master’s confused expression. “Think the gangsters will miss their poker chip?”

“Mind if I see that?” Samuel spoke up from the front, understanding as soon as she mentioned the chip. Now as confused as her Master, the Servant handed him the chip and Samuel began inspecting it. “That man who gave it to you. Was he blond with blue eyes? Short trimmed hair and a British accent?”

“Uh… Yes?” Most of that she was sure.

He tried to examine it under what little light they had in the parking lot. “Yeah, that was Assassin.”

“Wait, what?” Lancer’s confusion only grew. “Shouldn’t I have sensed something? Anything?”

“He wasn’t aggressive, right? It’s his Presence Concealment. Shields his presence from magical detection until he’s ready to strike.” By now, it looked like he was trying to break the chip open with his fingernails. “Why do they make these things so tricky?” Finally, he succeeded. Samuel opened the chip by the ring, splitting it in two. “A little gadget, fake hollow chips to pass secret messages.” This one in particular contained pieces of paper with numbers written on them. “Hmmm… Can’t make heads or tails of this. Better keep ‘em safe until we get back.” He put them into a small pocket on his jacket. “We should get back, my pupil wants our help preparing a séance for tomorrow.”

***

Of the two groups that went out that day, only one had come back with good news. Later that night, Kaito had been busy trying to prepare for the séance.

Everyone was busy, although, there was still one Master unaccounted for, and Kaito himself ran into her just as she was leaving the conference room. “Hey, what’s up? Speaking to the dean?”

Evelyn jumped, surprised to be seeing anyone. “Yes… I… I was asking about my parents. Seeing if they were worried about me, or had called the Tower, you know?”

So she was worried about her family? Kaito genuinely asked. “Is everything okay?”

Evelyn turned away and began to hobble down the hall. “They are fine. Thank you for asking. Uh, see you later!” And she limped back into her room, letting out a big sigh as the door closed.

“I’m guessing you were almost caught?” She jumped again as her Servant appeared in the corner. Saber looked at his master, giving her time to recover her breath. “If you feel so uncomfortable about doing this, why don’t you just stop?”

“I can’t. The dean himself gave me this task.” The Association needed her to keep an eye on the whole mercenary group of Masters and Servants in her own faction. There wasn’t anyone else close enough to the group to do it. “He gave me new information.” Saber’s interest was piqued. “The enemy is just as lost as we are. At this point it’s a race to see who gets to the Grail first.”

This news gave Saber pause. “I guess he didn’t tell you where to find them?” His Master confirmed it and Saber briefly looked frustrated. “We should prepare ourselves, there ought to be more fighting before we can secure our objective.” He looked over to his Master, sitting on her bed, rubbing her bad leg through her bandages. “Are you in pain?”

Evelyn rubbed her leg, right where her wound was. “A little bit. Rider’s Master told me I should be fine in a few days, but damned if it doesn’t sting and itch like crazy.”

Saber was quick to notice how much it bothered her. He sat down by her bad leg and asked “Can I?”

A bit confused, but intrigued, the girl accepted. “Sure.” Saber placed both hands on her wound, without moving them, and began to pass mana into his Master. It was a standard healing spell to soothe the pain. Once it was over, Evelyn looked back at him, clearly impressed as she tested standing and walking. “I didn’t know you could do that.”

The Servant smiled. “A king needs many skills to survive on the battlefield. I hope it helps.”

The vagueness of those words made the girl wonder. “What else can you do?”

“Aside from combat magic, nothing as amazing as what I just did.” He summoned his sword. “It’s Joyeuse that’s amazing in its own right.” He held it edge side down. “She is a light shining in darkness, her edge always sharp, and her presence able to ward off evil. Truly the most magnificent Noble Phantasm.” He spoke so proudly of his sword.

***

The next day was uneventful. Their familiars brought no new information about the enemy nor the Grail. Samuel received no word from his new contact, and no Servant was having any particular troubles. Aside from some vague plans for their next move, nobody had anything to do but help Kaito and Caster with their odd request.

Five people sat at a circular table in the living room. It was already night and the moon was out, shining brightly over their manor. “Hey, thank you all for doing this for us.”

His teacher responded from across the table. “Are you kidding? It’s a pleasure. We haven’t tried summoning the dead since high school.”

Roberta, sitting beside him, added. “Yeah, we didn’t have many friends growing up.”

It was Red Harvest who sat at the head of the table, lighting the candles. “Alright, everything is set. Everyone hold hands.” In addition to the candles, they had even found a dusty old spirit board in the attic; it seemed the previous owners were into some dark stuff. They had gathered this particular group because each of them had experienced a séance before, except Kaito, who was invested anyway. Everyone here was also a magus, surely that should give them some edge.

As they held hands, the old shaman did some light chanting as they tried to summon the spirit of Caster’s late husband. All they needed was a small sign, any sign, that he was listening.

Yet, for all their preparation, and all their fervor, it was all fruitless. Minutes at the table turned into an hour, and aside from the candles burning out, nothing happened. They were all bummed out by this, for different reasons, but it was obvious the one hit hardest by this was Caster herself. Eventually she stopped holding hands, looking down at the table for a few moments before looking back up with a forced smile. “Thank you for indulging me. Sorry to have wasted all your time…” She stood up silently and walked out of the room.

Her Master tried walking after her. “Caster, wait-” But the woman disappeared. Kaito quickly tried to think of where she might have gone. “Thank you for your time.” Before he left all the adults sitting at the table.

Roberta spoke, breaking the silence. “Why do you think it didn’t work?”

Both men shrugged, though only Samuel tried to answer. “Life after death is one of those big mysteries. Pretty sure it’s one of the reasons the Association wants the Grail so much.”

She didn’t buy it. “Well, yeah, but we have Servants. They’re basically the dead. He’s a shaman, and we’re expert mages. Yet, no one has ever been able to contact the dead.”

The old shaman tried to answer. “There is necromancy…”

Only to be stopped by the woman, not finished with his rant. “Give me a break, necromancy doesn’t work that way. I’m not angry… just… bewildered. I can’t begin to understand it.”

Samuel tried to come up with something to say. “Maybe the reason is that there is no reason…” He still couldn’t find the right words. “Or maybe Houdini doesn’t have anything to say. I know I wouldn’t want anything to do with the living once I’m dead.”

Everyone let out a joint sigh. “I hope Caster is alright.” Roberta looked at the open door that the two had left through.

***

Kaito’s hunch had proven correct, and he found his Servant sitting upon one of the balcony chairs, face buried in her knees, staring up at the moon. “So… how are you feeling?”

Caster was quick with her answer. “Like an idiot. Should have learned my lesson the first couple times I tried.”

“I don’t think you’re an idiot.” There was a long pause as they both sat there staring at the moon. “But I’m sorry the séance didn’t work.”

Caster tried to shrug it off. “You don’t need to apologize. I should have dropped the whole thing from the beginning.” But she couldn’t stop herself from getting angry at the whole thing. “It’s just… why doesn’t he answer me? I want to know at least that.”

“You shouldn’t give up just yet!” They heard a voice from nowhere. Neither of them could identify who it was or where it was but it wasn’t long until they heard it again. “I’m down here, wait a second!” Kaito looked over the railings and saw someone climbing from the second floor. To their surprise, it was Lancer. “Hey, how are you doing?”

Caster looked up from her mope, blinking at the newcomer. “Oh, Lancer, right?” Both Servant and Master gave her a recap of their situation.

“So what if that didn’t work? It’s not like you don’t have another way to contact your husband.” Her comment puzzled them both. “The Grail? Just used your wish to bring back the man. Seems like a no brainer to me.”

“It’s not so simple…” Caster tried to counter.

But Lancer spoke over her. “Yes, it is. All that frustration you feel being away from your loved one? Poof, erased.”

She made it sound so simple. “Is that what you’re going to wish for?” The way Lancer spoke, it seemed to Caster that she had already had this discussion with herself.

Lancer smirked before answering. “There is a person I want to bring back. But, would I say it’s love?” The Servant looked pensive for a moment before shrugging. “Maybe. I don’t know. Not like it matters to me. But Xuanzang deserves to be brought back.”

And Caster had to chuckle at her answer. “So you want to use a wish to bring your old pal back?” She wasn’t asking to challenge it, she just wanted clarification. “How are you so sure you’re going to get that wish?”

Now that question scratched Lancer’s ego. “You clearly haven’t heard about me. I’ll win this war on my own if I have to.”

“C’mon. Don’t write us off yet!” Kaito sounded 

Looking at him, Caster stood up. “My Master is right, we all have something worth fighting for here. There’s no way we’re letting you take the spotlight.”

Lancer laughed. “That’s just what I want to hear! Fight with all your strength, don’t let the enemy take away your wish.” Both Servants shook hands and shared a determined look.

With the mood in a more lively state, Kaito stood forward to ask something that had been on his mind for a while. “Hey, Caster. Can you tell me about your Noble Phantasm?”

This wasn’t too weird for the Servants. They were talking about fighting, anyway. Caster turned to face her Master and brought them closer and closer together until they were almost touching noses, all the while staring into his eyes. Before it got awkward, she spoke. “Do you get it?”

The moment turned awkward really fast after Kaito didn’t ‘get it’. “Uhm… You have…” Although, there was something he hadn’t noticed before. “Star shaped pupils?” It was so unnaturally weird and stood out so much, he was surprised he hadn’t noticed it before.

Finally letting the boy go. “Close enough. It’s my eyes, Kaito. I can see everything around me, and will always be able to find my way out of a tight situation. Nothing escapes my gaze.” But that was only part of the power. Promptly, Caster raised her arm, pointing to the sky. “And I have said it before: There’s no magic like stage magic. I can fool even the sharpest minds to see what I want them to see.” An explanation that didn’t fully convince Kaito, and his expression reflect that skepticism. “Oh, I see a demonstration is needed.” She then pointed at Lancer, who had been reclining on the balcony edge for the last few minutes watching them. “Could my lovely assistant please step forward?!”

Taken by surprise, Lancer looked around for anyone else, then pointed at herself, as if unsure. “Eh, fine.” She stepped forward and Caster made a little show of walking around the woman in circles.

With Lancer’s attention occupied with Caster’s movements. “Now, look at your hands.” Doing as instructed, she looked down and realized her hands were in shackles, even over her left hand’s bandages.

“The hell? When did you do this?” She wasn’t angry or annoyed, but Lancer was awed by this. She hadn’t even felt the shackles around her wrists before Caster pointed at them. And they were top quality too, they must have been with how hard they were to break.

“You see that, Kaito?” Her Master was puzzled at the sight. From his point of view, Lancer was looking at her bare hands with an amused expression and struggled to separate them. ”All of her senses tell her she is bound, but that’s all in her head. Her shackles are as strong as her mind makes them.” Caster proceeded to place her hands over Lancer’s shackles and said. “Now you’re free!” And slapped the shackles away.

Clearly impressed, Lancer laughed. “Amazing! One hell of a Noble Phantasm.”

Kaito jumped in with a bright smile. “Yes, she is sure to win this war!” And they all shared a quick laugh, at least the mood had changed for the better. “Should we go back inside? We could get some late night dinner.”

Caster excused him with a friendly hand motion.”You can go ahead. I want to stay here a bit longer.”

Kaito stood, acknowledging that this was still an important day for her. “Sure. I hope you feel better. Goodnight.”

Now alone, Caster let out a relaxing sigh. Only she noticed she still had company. “Aren’t you busy too?”

Lancer reappeared beside her. “Hope you don’t mind.” But Caster didn’t care; she had already warmed up to Lancer. “You’re lucky, you know.” Lancer continued. “He’s a good kid.”

“Yeah, I know.” Caster responded softly, and both Servants continued to look up at the sky, with renewed determination in their hearts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I caught up with my backlog so in between editing and writing it'll take more time to update.
> 
> I'm going to do something I don't do and leave my discord in case you want to speak and talk about the story.
> 
> korinachan#4904


	7. Ambush

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More waiting will ensue but I hope you like this chapter

“Miss, wake up.” Archer spoke to me, in a low tone, almost whispering.

Breaking out of my slumber, but still feeling drowsy, I mumbled. “What is it?”

“We have moved.” In confusion, I jumped up and rushed to the window to take a look outside. Indeed, the area around our cabin was different from where we had been when I had gone to sleep.

I caught a glimpse of the old Servant shuffling outside and set out to go talk to her. “Hey grandma, what happened? Why are we somewhere else?”

Caster was using her old broom to tenaciously brush away dirt around the cabin. “My hut walked us to a safer place, far away from our enemy’s grasp.”

Her sweeping continued all throughout the explanation. “But where are we?”

Caster only mumbled under her breath as she kept to her task. “Go out and see for yourself.”

As Archer stood next to me, I knew what we needed to do. “We need to survey the area. Maybe we can find people nearby.”

Archer picked me up and placed me on his shoulders. “Hang on tight, we are going up.” Following his warning, I took a hold of his cloak and my Servant jumped into the air. We passed the tree line, maintaining our altitude for a few seconds, and tried to gather all the information we could in the brief moment of airtime.

As we began to descend, Archer braced himself for landing and to my great relief, we landed without issue. “I saw a road!”

“Yes, I saw it too. If we follow it north we will find a small town.” Seemed he picked up more than I did.

I was delighted at the prospect of some real food, a shower, and a clean change of clothes. “Let’s go!” I grabbed Archer and dragged him by his massive finger in the direction of the road. “We’ll come back later, grandma!”

As I started running off toward the road, I stumbled into a weird patch of ground. It was an enormous footprint, with four fingers, three in front and one in back. It was as large as the Servant that had chased us before, but of course of a different shape.

There were more prints leading along the ground up to the old cabin, right across the path Caster was sweeping. “Looks like a bird did this,” Archer pointed out. Indeed, the shape of the print reminded me of that of a chicken. “What is it, Miss?”

He must have noticed a serious expression on my face. I barely noticed myself that I was staring into the distance as if planning for something important. This plan? “I want chicken.” Again, I grabbed Archer by the hand and we continued on our way. It didn’t seem we could do much about these footprints, so it was better not to waste time dwelling on it.

***

The Association’s Masters and their Servants were getting ready to enjoy breakfast. With quite a few mouths to feed, Kaito, Roberta, and Caster set up in the kitchen, and everyone else helped set the table. The table was big enough to accomodate all of them and with the Association’s resources they had more than enough to eat, and the skill to get it ready quickly.

With so many people to cater to, it was obvious that different food preferences would appear around the table. Samuel, Kaito, and Caster ate a hearty American-style breakfast, with two eggs, a short stack of pancakes, and a few strips of bacon. Each diner stacked them in little towers at their side of the table and washed it all down with some milk. Evelyn, Roberta, and their Servants had the lightest breakfast of the group: bowls of fresh fruit and toast with different flavored james, drinking their coffee as they preferred. Red Harvest, his Servant, and Xiang had to feed Lancer’s enormous appetite, which meant they had the most loaded side of the table, having prepared soup and meat buns for all four of them, accompanied with some tea.

In the midst of this chaotic breakfast, and in between bites of food, Kaito asked. “So, what are we going to do today?”

Samuel made sure his mouth was clear of food, and answered loud enough for the whole table to hear. “I’m going out with Xiang one more time. We received a call from our contact in the mob.”

Excited for the prospect of a fight, the young man asked. “Ah, great! You want me to go with you?”

“Nah, we pretty much have it covered.” There wasn’t even room for a third person in the car.

“Hey, no fair, sensei. I’ve already stayed cooped up in this mansion for two days.” It wasn’t just that the normal Association goons left him with nothing to do preparation-wise. It wasn’t even that wasn’t much else to do there. He had been asked to join the war, hadn’t he? He wanted to take an active part, for once. He hadn’t seen action since Juarez.

But his teacher quickly quashed his hopes with a single hand. “This isn’t up for discussion. We want to take the enemy by surprise. We need as small a team as possible.”

More whining ensued. “C’mon. We haven’t even trained since we got to America.”

From the other corner of the table. “Yeah, old man. If the boy wants to fight that badly, I say let him go.” Lancer said with a mouthful of food.

Lancer’s table manners, or lack thereof, shamed her Master a little bit. The Servant woman was drawing way too much attention for her taste. “I don't see a problem if he wants to go.” Xiang interjected.

Samuel didn’t want to drop it, so he decided to decisively close the topic and move on. “But I do. Someone has to stay here to protect the base. Evelyn and Red Harvest also have orders to stay put. And I want you two helping our shaman with everything he needs.”

Rider had to look away from Lancer. He had never seen someone eat that way, and it was unnatural for him.“I’m sure your trust in them is well founded.”

Red Harvest also put down his soup to answer. “I’ll be trying to figure out our next strategy concerning the Grail.”

“What about me?” Roberta asked. She had already been given the chance to go out and work today, but it was a work far under her abilities, so she had declined.

“Good question, I don’t know.” As he stroked his chin in thought, the woman stared back at her friend in disbelief. “What? We just have too many people for the amount of things we need done. I’m sure you can come up with something to entertain yourself while I’m out.” Harder stares continued to project from her as Samuel downed his milk. It seemed she would have to brainstorm some ideas ‘to entertain herself’, she thought as she rolled her eyes. “Also, if someone from the collection agency calls asking for me, tell them I moved to Tibet.” It was a comment that sounded bizarre, even for the pyromancer. Yet that was the end of the morning announcements, and with that they finished their meal.

***

They had begun to clean up after finishing breakfast when everyone present heard an invitation. “Hey, I’m going to do some horseback riding. Who wants to join me?” Lancer was always eager for a group activity.

Rider was the first to accept, obviously. “I’ll go. You might need help, with your injuries.” He and his Master rose and followed Lancer outside.

“I’m also an expert equestrian myself.” Saber joined in as well. “I’m more than happy to accompany you outside.” He followed them out.

As Berserker was putting his dishes on the counter, he tugged at Roberta’s skirt. “Mom, can we go play with the horses?!”

Knowing she had nothing better to do, she nodded. “Of course, sweetie.”

As Kaito was making his way up to his room, he heard a commanding voice from below. “Where do you think you’re going?” It was his teacher. “You complain about not practicing in a while, yet you go away as soon as breakfast is done?”

Both master and apprentice made their way outside to start. This would have left Evelyn to do the dishes alone, but- “What are you doing? Let’s go.” Kaito stopped and invited her to come, taking her by surprise. “C’mon, we can clean later, and I promise; this will be fun.” Left with no other choice, Evelyn accepted the invitation, following the two of them outside.

In the back of the land behind the manor, past an open space with some stone pathways, there sat an improvised training grounds. Targets had already been set up. “Alright. Show me what you’ve got.” Samuel commanded and Kaito reacted. The boy flipped up his lighter, took the small flame with the tip of his finger, and shot it like a high caliber bullet, whizzing through the air and knocking a small glass bottle and spilling fire to the adjacent target.

“Uh, great shot.” Evelyn praised her friend’s shot.

Samuel went over the shot in his mind before giving his verdict. “Bulls eye, for sure, but a little weak.” It was pretty good for a fast draw, though. “Try it with your whole hand.” As instructed, Kaito took the next flame and shot it as a bigger fireball, causing a bigger explosion that took out more targets. “Better.” The boy’s accuracy was top notch. “Go for a flamethrower now, I want to see how long you can keep it up.”

Placing both hands together, palms open, and taking another flame from his lighter, Kaito didn’t shoot a fireball like before, but started controlling a stream of fire into a cone, akin to a flamethrower. While this removed too much range from the attack, the amount of fire engulfing the area in front of the teenager was immense. Doing this was only part of the test, though, and what came next was more difficult. Seeing how long he could keep it up, while also keeping absolute control over the fire. Predictably, it began to take its toll on Kaito. Not so much the heat of the fire, that he was used to, but keeping the fire itself alive. Only a minute or two after he had started the flames already began to fade, losing what little range the spell had, until it had completely stopped, with Kaito falling to his knees. He looked up expectantly “How’d I do?”

Samuel nodded in disapproval. “Still too short, but I don't blame you. You’re still working with the lighter.”

“Can’t you do it without it? I mean, you created your summoning circle fine without the lighter.” Evelyn made the quick observation.

“You’re ready to start training like that. But only training, and only if I’m around.” The older man reiterated. “Before we do that, start with needles, followed by two fire blasts from each hand, and end with a torrent.”

The whole sequence sounded hard enough for the student, and actually following up with it proved equally challenging. First, Kaito had to turn the lighter on, take the flame, and use fire to shoot needles, small lines of fire that scattered as soon as he shot them. Then, again, flip up the light and take a fresh flame, take it in both hands and use it for the next spell, fire blasts which were long lines of fire that attacked like lasers in straight trajectories. To end with, Kaito again needed to repeat the prep step and for the torrent, throw a fireball to the ground which sprouted upwards like a column made of fire that spun in place.

At the end of all of that, Kaito once again took a knee, trying to recover his breath. “How’d you like that, old man?”

His teacher began clapping. “Great. Still a little rough around the edges, but I liked it just fine. Hopefully you two see the problems with the lighter. A lot of time is lost because you need outside fire to work your craft. And it doesn’t last long once you shoot it out.”

This raised a question for Evelyn. “Then why even start with the lighter? Why not go directly to mana fire?”

“For starters, it’s safe. Well, safer.” As safe as one could be working with fire. ‘It’s easier to manipulate, and a small spark can turn into a torrent of fire with a small amount of mana.” On the other hand, “If you decide to go with mana fire, of course, the strain on your body will be bigger, but you will get attacks with more intensity and longer lasting effects. This not counting that you can make your own fire do crazier things on command.”

Promptly, Samuel whipped his arm, creating a fire lasso out of thin air as he did so. The hondo wrapped around a training dummy neck, and sliced right through as the fire closed around it. He followed it up with another fireball that curved in midair to flank one of the remaining targets. “Or, you know, create a summoning circle with fire. Still, remember what I told you. Only during training, and only if I’m with you. You still need a lot of practice before you can use them in battle.”

With the warning heard, Kaito was nonetheless pumped to get to that point, and stood up to give it a try. “Alright. Hold my lighter, Eve.” He tossed it to her and she caught it. Something quickly caught Evelyn’s attention, inspecting the small lighter with a bemused look and drawing Kaito’s interest. “What’s up?”

Evelyn turned it around to show the inscription engraved. “Fuck Communism?”

Hearing those words, Samuel shouted out as he set up more targets “Yeah, fuck it!”

Both teenagers looked at him and Kaito took the lighter. “It was a… gift.” This seemed to appease the girl’s curiosity, and the two pyromancers went back to training.

***

On the other side of the manor, near the horse fields, the rest of the group was busy riding around. Saber, Rider, and Lancer freely galloped around, sometimes running their horses around and over the obstacles littered around the area. Even without the use of her left arm, Lancer was able to keep up and have a great time.

At some point they had paused to let their mounts rest, and Lancer posed with a laugh. “Hey, who do you think is the fastest?”

Not sensing the challenge, Saber answered. “I do not think there’s much of a difference between the horses. They are all fast beasts.”

“Everybody knows it’s not the animal, but the rider that makes the difference. Ain’t that right?” She asked, nudging Rider, hoping he would take the bait.

“That’s true, but I believe there’s no point in competition. We three are all great horseback riders.” It was a swing and a miss to get him. “Clearly the more experienced of our group.” He gestured over to a spot near the stables.

Berserker was sitting atop one of the horses, so scared of being up there he could barely move. By his side was his Master Roberta, holding his hand and trying to keep him calm, and holding the horse was Red Harvest, acting as an instructor of sorts.

Lancer blew a raspberry and hopped up. “You two are just boring. What about a bet?” It was out of nowhere but she wanted to keep things interesting. “We race across the field and the losers have to cook the lunch of the winner.”

“You already need two people to cook your meals. I don’t think it’ll make much difference for you.” Saber commented. The girl had very little to prove with this bet, was his point.

And she was quick to retort. “Are you scared of losing then?” With a devilish smile on her face.

Rider threw his hands in the air. “It’s not that. It’s just… why do you need to…” She was being so ridiculous that he couldn’t even call her out. “Alright, I’ll race you.” If it meant getting her off their backs, he would do it.

Lancer smiled as a predator would, seizing her prey. “What about you, Saber?”

Driven by his own spirit of competition, he jumped onto his horse. “Of course, but I don’t want a light lunch when I win.” With that, they each galloped away to look for a good place to set the race.

Meanwhile, with Berserker, the Servant was still scared of the horse. There was something about the way it moved and how high up he was. He didn’t even dare to trot without his Master holding his hand. “You’re doing great, dear.” They weren’t doing much, just walking around the fields, never drifting too far away from the stables. “Isn’t he?”

“Well, he isn’t going to be a cavalry soldier anytime soon, but yes. He’s doing fine.” The old man was very familiar with horses and teaching children how to ride them. It was easy for him to keep things simple for a complete novice.

“Wanna try to go a little faster?” When she saw Berserker looking more nervous, she smiled. Relax; I’m sure you can handle it.”

Roberta tried to let go, slowly, while signaling to Red Harvest to walk a little bit faster. Soon enough, she had let go and Berserker was riding in circles around his instructor, who was still holding the ropes tightly. After some minutes of just that, they stopped, and Roberta walked back to her Servant’s side. “You see? I knew you could do it.”

As soon as she said that, the horse began to go wild, as if it had suddenly gotten spooked. With such a strong beast, and Red Harvest’s aged grip so weak, it took almost nothing for the horse to whip the ropes out of his hands, dropping him to the ground as it did so. With Roberta so close to the animal, she wound up getting the worst hit; she tried to take a few steps back to avoid the bucking animal, but the horse moved so fast and erratically that she was hit by its hind legs, also falling to the ground. Before Berserker could do much more than panic, Red Harvest was already up, immediately grabbing the horse by the head to calm it down. “Mom! Are you alright?!” The Servant leapt off the horse and rushed to her side.

She slowly stood up while rubbing the back of her head. “Yes, it’s nothing.”

“Don’t be so sure.” Red Harvest interjected. “I’ll return the horse and then check up on you upstairs. We need to make sure you don’t have a concussion.” He turned to her Servant. “Take her inside. Make sure she is fine.” While it was probably nothing, he still moved them into the house, just in time to miss the winner of the Servants’ race.

***

We walked into the convenience store just after midday. Well, it was more of a gas station store by the side of the road. Not big enough to stock everything we wanted, but it was likely the only place we would find that was less than a day away. Archer and I filled our shopping basket with canned food, since we had no fridge to keep anything else. We also grabbed some cleaning products, detergents, soaps, and toilet paper for some basic amenities. Finally, we grabbed a few rotisserie chickens we planned on eating them as soon as possible.

I had one question though, as we approached the checkout. “Archer, are you sure you have enough money for all of this?”

As the line moved, more than a few stares were shot our way as we moved with it. “Of course, believe me.”

“I just don’t want to make all the trip for nothing, you know?”

Once it was our turn at the register, it took some time for the cashier lady to scan all our items, before asking for payment. Hearing the amount, Archer began rumbling around the pockets of his green jacket, before pulling out some money. “I believe this is legal currency.”

He pulled out a few large bills and a couple of coins. The lady at the register had to check them, thoroughly, before accepting them. Surprisingly, it was the exact amount that we needed.

Archer helped the lady bag everything up and we were soon out of the store and ready to make our way back to the forest. But someone stopped us as we were walking away from the gas station. “Hey, no car? You two are going to walk all the way home, with that much baggage?”

It was a short man, compared to Archer at least, red haired and dressed for the chill weather. His teeth were yellow as he smiled at us while tipping his hat. “We are fine, just parked along the curve.” I answered him, trying to move along.

The man looked around, scratching the back of his head. “Well, I-I mean… Bear man with a small child, people are ought to ask questions, you know?”

“I’m fine. No need to worry yourself with us.” I tried desperately to keep things civil, and to keep Archer from saying anything that might draw more attention to us.

“Alright, whatever you say. I’ll just tell my friends I didn’t see nuthin’.” The man lost his previous attitude, now showing a serious side as he spoke. “And if I can advise you: Keep moving; someone ought to find you if you stay in one place for too long.”

After that he just walked away, going in the opposite direction we were, leaving Archer and I confused. It was a strange encounter, to be sure, but he hadn’t done more than ask a few basic questions. It seemed easy at the time to brush it off and move on.

***

Back at the cabin, we were met with another weird sight. Just like before, the cabin seemed to have grown, though this time we could see the outside perspective. It was a little broader from the sides, meaning there was more space on the inside, perhaps even enough for another room? The roof was higher than before, not enough for a second floor, but maybe Archer could fit through the door now.

Anyway, we didn’t dwell that much on this before making our way inside. Grandma was nowhere to be seen, perhaps in the back room, so we decided to start prepping the ingredients. While we still didn’t have many options, at least we had chicken. We decided on soup again, and had more different flavors we have bought at the store.

Lunch came and went without issue or event. Archer and I ate in relative silence, leaving enough for Grandma’s three stomachs, though she never appeared to receive it. In fact, we couldn’t hear anything at all from behind that locked door. I figured we should move on to the next chore. “Hey, Archer, have you spotted a river nearby?”

Archer thought for a few minutes, as he ran his mind through everything he had seen on our last leap. “I spotted a little stream before. You want to go there?”

Delighted at the answer, I picked up two water buckets and some of the cleaning products. “Let’s go, this has been long overdue.”

Within a few minutes we found the stream and I handed a bucket to Archer and pointed to the water. “Help me fill this with water.”

He suddenly understood. “Oh, you’re going to clean your clothes.”

“Not just that. We are both going to take a bath, and I’m going to wash our clothes.” It was awkward having only one change of clothes, but it couldn’t be helped.

Archer staggered back a bit. “W-What? I-I would have thought you’d want a little more privacy for this.”

“Believe me, I want it, but it will have to wait until our clothes are clean.” I was already mixing the water in the bucket with the detergent and taking my jacket off. “First, take your cloak off; that thing reeks.” Archer was taken aback, but relented sullenly.

Trying to make things less awkward, I went for Archer’s things first, leaving him his pants but otherwise naked. I ended up taking off my own undershirt to have as much clothing washed in the first cycle as possible. Neither of us were familiar with hand washing (honestly it seemed that this was Archer’s first time washing at all), but it seemed easy enough. Letting the garments rest in the soapy water before rinsing them. “Alright then, let’s wash your hair.” Again, I got a reaction of horror from Archer.

My Servant had long hair, even longer than mine, and looking at its current state I should have scolded him for not taking care of it. Archer sat by the stream in front of a big rock so I could climb on top of it and get a good angel on his head. “Here, use this.” I presented him with a bar of soap, which he only stared at in confusion. “It’s not only your clothes that stink. At least wash your upper body.” I smiled as he took it and began cleaning himself. “Scrub yourself while I rinse our clothes. And don’t forget to clean your beard!”

With the rest of the clothes that needed washing, rinse, and put to dry, along with my own bathroom, we stayed busy in the stream for a few hours before packing up and going back to the cabin.

***

Due to the lack of dry clothes, I had to sit in front of the lit hearth, in the center of the cabin, wrapped only in Arche’s massive cloak, the only garment that was dry enough to use, while we waited for the clothes to dry. Archer meanwhile inspected the rest of the abode, checking to see if there was anything new.

One thing we did notice when we came back was that the rest of the food was gone. Not just the soup inside the cauldron but the cauldron itself. It seemed obvious to us that it was Caster. Aside from that, we could hear some incredibly light snores coming from somewhere inside the cabin. We couldn’t exactly pinpoint the source, but they were light enough that we brushed them off as Grandma having a nap after eating so much.

“We need to keep moving.” I said plainly as I gazed into the fire.

Archer had stopped his perusal to respond. “I agree. The only problem is: we don’t know where to go.”

I pondered our situation. “Did the Professor never tell you about the rest of the Masters? Maybe he gave you a clue about where to go.”

He gave it a long thought. “None that I can remember right now. He only told me that we needed to move east. That’s it.”

But that wasn’t the right option there. “We shouldn’t move without a clear destination. Pass me the bags.” I pulled out something I was glad to have picked up back at the gas station. “This is a map of the state. We can use it to figure out where to move.” I opened it up on the floor and began looking for our location. “Let’s keep going north, maybe we can hit a big city and make contact with the Association.” We only needed to get more information before going. Good thing I had a great tracker with me; it should take him no time to gather clues.

***

Back at the manor, Masters and Servants were just finishing lunch. Barely anyone at the table this time; Saber was there enjoying his meal as the winner of the race in the fields. Both Rider and Lancer followed their end of the bargain by cooking for him. Not that that was good news for Saber, since neither of the losers knew a lot about cuisine.

With lunch over for them, but before anyone could leave on their daily missions, Lancer had to be looked over by Red Harvest. It had been a while since she had started with the bandages. The shaman slowly removed them so as to not pain the Servant, and checked her wounds. Lancer’s shoulder wound wasn’t that big to begin with, but even after some days, and all the medicine she was taking, the wounds had trouble healing.

Her laceration needed to be sewn shut as it wasn’t closing properly, even with Lancer’s natural healing ability. Even assuming that, though, it had taken a turn for the worse, becoming purple and beginning to ooze a bit of puss. The biggest issue they were facing was returning sensation to her arm. Lancer still couldn’t lift it all the way, or make a fist.

Regardless, after checking the status of the wound, it was only a matter of changing her bandages and giving her some medicine. “I advise against taking her with you today.”

Xiang, sitting beside her Servant, added “I have to agree. Why don’t you take Miss Roberta with you, instead?” She offered a replacement to Samuel. If Lancer wasn’t going, she should probably stay behind as well.

“Eh?! Just because I have a bad arm doesn’t mean I can’t fight.” Lancer tried standing up but was restrained by the joint efforts of her Master and the shaman. They still weren’t done resetting the bandages. “I faced two Servants with two arms, I can easily take one like this.”

Still trying to hold her Servant down, Xiang tried reasoning. “The problem is we don’t know how many enemy Servants could be there.”

Samuel interjected. “Well, to be honest, it’s just a money pickup. Don’t even think they’d send a Master to deal with that.” He was waiting for them to finish with Lancer so they could move out. “I need someone to watch my back with Assassin elsewhere.”

She didn’t see why he needed her specifically for this errand, but begrudgingly she obliged his request. “Why do you need a Lancer, anyway?”

“Think of it as a… show of strength. We haven’t faced our enemy in awhile now and when we did it was always on their terms.” This was true; they had so far been on the defensive, always being the ones taken by surprise. “Except for you two. That little stunt your Servant pulled? I’m willing to bet it scared them enough to be a little wary of her. And with their perceived numbers advantage, I’m going to use every piece of psychology I can.” This was how Samuel thought it was, anyway. It was mostly speculation, but that was all he had. “Now, we should push the attack with Lancer, show them our heavy hitter is still fine and kicking ass, and cement their fear of you two.”

“Still…” The old shaman spoke misgivings; as much as it sounded like a fair strategy, he figured one couldn’t be too careful. “Why don’t you take Rider too?”

Without taking the time to think about it, Samuel nodded. “Sounds good t’me. We only need to go over some things before we go.”

After the group left, Red Harvest moved on to his next assignment. The way they were going was unsustainable, he thought, looking for the Grail without any clues to its whereabouts. It was as if they needed a sign from God himself to appear, no matter how small (Ironically fitting, given the item in question). There had to be something for them to follow. To guide himself, the old shaman spread out all the maps he could find on the area. A map of Louisiana, their current state, and the states surrounding it.

Not long after, Evelyn and Kaito walked into the room, finding him ingrained in his work. “Hey, old man, working hard?” Kaito asked as he plopped down on one of the couches.

“Need some help?” Evelyn added.

Never moving his gaze from his work, “Have a seat and I’ll show you what I’ve found.”

Doing as asked, the teenagers leaned in to get a closer look, with Kaito asking first. “What exactly are you doing?”

Checking his paperwork. “I’m trying to determine where the Grail will move next.”

Shocked at such an answer, Evelyn asked “Can you actually do that?”

“How is the thing even moving on its own to begin with?” Kaito stopped the shaman just as he began to explain.

“My best theory is that a Servant is moving it. Which leads into her question. No matter how good this Servant is at avoiding conflict, it needs a supply of mana to keep it together.” He pointed at an area on the map he circled in red. “From this forest, where we had the last location of the Grail, we can determine where it might have gone to get it’s magic source. It’s about pulling mana from power places. In other words, the ley lines.”

“Sure, that makes sense.” But it was ignoring something in Kaito’s mind. “But what if the Servant still has its Master? That way he wouldn’t need to find an external source of mana.”

“Of course that could be the case, but I’m assuming this…” This was a big assumption he was about to declare. “If this Servant still has a Master, then they are going to need a lot of strength to protect the Grail. So I’m mapping everything out with two factors in mind. We are looking for a place that can fill the Servant with mana, while at the same time being close enough to a town in case the Master needs anything.”

“Well, that should narrow it down. Can’t think of any places of power close to cities or towns.” Evelyn drew this conclusion. With civilization growing so fast, especially in the west, the few ley lines that had survived wouldn’t have enough power left in them.

Red Harvest nonetheless took on a sour look. “The only problem is, we have such a big area to sweep, we might end up with hundreds of results.”

“It wouldn’t be so hard to find a direction.” Kaito said plainly. It wasn’t that he was hit by a realization, he just stated the obvious. “We just need to follow our enemy. I’m sure they’ll keep close to their Servant, wouldn’t they?” This won him several confused looks. “What? All of our Servants are accounted for. Doesn’t that mean that the one with the Grail is theirs?”

Thinking about it, this wasn’t new information. The old shaman had never considered it, but it did seem likely (no matter how wrong in reality it was) that what Kaito said was correct. Staying just one step ahead of their enemies did in fact seem like the only way to reach their objective. “In that case, Samuel had better come up with something new after today’s errand.”

After some minutes of the three of them working with this theory, rounding up all possibilities, the phone rang. What was strange was that for their entire stay in the manor, the phone hadn’t rang once. Kaito for one didn’t even know they had a phone. Once the boy answered, he heard an unfamiliar voice speak from the other side. “Hi, good afternoon. I’m calling from the collection agency. Can I speak with Samuel Chisholm?” The male voice asked.

Kaito wasn’t expecting his teacher’s words to come true. Luckily, he remembered what he needed to say. “Sorry, he moved to Tibet a while ago.”

Some seconds of silence passed, and the boy was inclined to hang up, until suddenly. “Kaito, is that you?”

Surprised and shocked, Kaito affirmed. “Who is this?” He asked in his most serious voice.

“It’s me, Assassin. Is Samuel really out?” The boy had given him the countersign, but right now the Servant could use his Master’s help.

Relieved, but still puzzled, Kaito kept going. “Yes, he stepped out hours ago. What do you need?”

“I have been watching an enemy camp for some time. I just saw a couple of their Masters arriving here. They look ready to fight.”

This lined up with the reason his teacher had gone to the nearby city. “The old man is meeting with some of their people for an exchange. You think the Masters caught wind of our trap?” Having to face two Servants while Lancer was still not at full strength might not be the ambush they were expecting.

“Maybe, maybe not. Either way, we need to do something about this.” But there wasn’t much Assassin was going to accomplish on his own. “The meet up is only a few hours away; you can still make it if you hurry.”

“Right, I’ll bring Caster along. Just tell me where to meet you.” Grabbing a pen and paper, Kaito wrote down the address and rushed back to inform his companions about the development. “Listen, my sensei might need help in the city so I’ll be stepping out for a few hours.”

Before he could walk away, Evelyn grabbed his arm. “Are you really going alone? It’s dangerous out there.”

But Kaito was quick to answer, and quick to act. “I’ll have Caster with me, and I’m meeting Assassin.”

The girl remained unconvinced, and the shaman offered more insight. “You shouldn’t take the enemy so lightly, boy. You two go together on this mission. I’m still without a Servant and someone needs to stay behind to watch over the base.”

Evelyn smiled at the idea, and the shaman nodded. “Yes, Kai. That way we can watch each other’s backs on the road.”

None of this bothered Kaito in the slightest, but he was starting to get concerned about car space. “Alright. I’ll tell you everything on the way there.” The two of them just needed to gather their Servants before hitting the road. Maybe they could do something before their friends end up walking into a trap.

***

Kaito and Evelyn had arrived in the city in record time. Just as the sun was going down, they parked their car inside a specific alleyway, their secret meeting point, and didn’t have to wait long before Assassin found them.

The group was assembled. Masters in front, Assassin in the back alongside Caster, with Saber opting to stay in spiritual form alongside. “You sure look different.” Caster was the first to mention the obvious.

“So I’ve been told. Turn on the engine; I’m taking you to the enemy camp.” He gave some quick directions to get Kaito close and they slowly drove deeper into town.

“Is the camp inside the city?” Evelyn asked.

“It’s an empty office building. They use it as barracks and they have soldiers patrol all over the city in casual clothing. Make a right here.” As they neared the destination, Assassin would give more detailed instructions. “But today I saw not one, but two Masters going in and out of the building.”

“You think they saw you?” Caster asked.

“Wouldn’t be much of a spy if they did. When you can, merge left and take the next exit.” They were getting close.

“I don’t get it, what do you want us to do here?” Evelyn had been given the same information Kaito had, but still didn’t understand what they were supposed to do.

Assassin explained as best he could. “I’m under strict orders not to show myself to the enemy, much less intervene on their affairs in any way. But if they have indeed caught wind of my Master’s plan, we need to contact him as soon as possible. You are here as a contingency, in case this matter goes south and we need to make a quick escape.”

Not moving his eyes from the road, Kaito commented. “But for now we just need to watch and wait. I get it now.”

They came upon an abandoned factory building. The kind of place downtown that homeless people use as shelter. And right in front of it rested the enemy base, so the area was the perfect place to house a group of fanatics and the people spying on them. Nobody would just wander in there by mistake, and police presence was only superficial. The group was able to drive in out of sight of whoever might be watching, parking their vehicle on the factory floor and covering it with a large sheet.

They made their way upstairs, finding Assassin’s recon point. It was modest, to say the least; a small area walled by sheets, some mattresses tossed on the ground, and a sniper rifle resting near the large window, alongside some binoculars.

As soon as they entered, Kaito moved near the window and Evelyn took around, she asked. “You saw their Masters? From here? How could you tell?”

Assassin rumbled around one corner of his space and pulled up some photos. “I took these pictures and compared them with the information we gathered on our previous encounters.” The pictures showed a girl with red hair and a beret, a young man with equally red hair hidden under a large hat, and an older man, this one wearing no gloves to cover the Command Seals.

“Someone is heading out.” Kaito was looking through the binoculars to test them out when he spotted people coming out of the office building. “Actually, several people are moving out.”

The boy could see one vehicle pulling around and waiting in front of the main doors while two people waited outside. Assassin grabbed his rifle and looked through the scope. It was the girl and young man from the pictures. “That girl is one of the Masters. The other guy is the one that killed me back in Mexico.”

The girl then got into the car, along with a small escort of guards, and left. Quickly, Assassin wrote something down on a little notepad. “Here’s the license plate, one of you needs to follow her.”

Evelyn was quick to snatch the number out of his hand, with Saber appearing at her side. “We’ll do it. Pass the keys.” Kaito tossed the keys in her direction. “I’ll stay in touch, but if something happens, let’s meet back at the manor.”

“Be careful, Eve… maybe I should go with you.” Kaito was about to get up, but Assassin stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“We have to stay here in case my Master needs help.” It was the problem with their uneven numbers. He would like to be able to give them more assistance, but with the information he had, his hands were tied. “Listen to me. Stay low and try to avoid a conflict. If you have the chance to join my Master, take it.”

Giving all of them a confident grin and a wink. “Don’t worry about me, I have Saber.”

“Oh, come her, you!” Caster approached and embraced her, and they were off.

Still worried for his friend, Kaito turned his attention through the binoculars and to the enemy, hoping to catch the other Master as he departed. Unfortunately, all he saw was that enemy Servant in the hat looking right back at him with a smug smile. Could the enemy see him? Maybe it was just coincidence, but he also tipped his hat and disappeared, making the boy shudder.

Only a few minutes later, they finally saw the other Master getting ready to leave. The scary looking man got inside a dark vehicle, alone, unlike the previous girl. “That’s our cue. Let’s follow him.” Assassin quickly rounded up his things and the three of them were quickly on their way.

***

The vehicle Evelyn and Saber were following had stopped behind a restaurant, in the back alleyway. It’s passengers had gone inside for a few minutes before coming back out, the girl Master carrying a large black briefcase.

To Evelyn’s surprise, the guard escort took the briefcase from her and retreated in the car, leaving the Master alone in the alleyway. The girl started walking in no particular direction, at least from what Evelyn could see, and they decided to follow her on foot rather than by car. This was downtown: close streets, business at every corner, and not a lot of space for cars to move. It was nearing the end of the work day, and people started to flock to the streets trying to catch a ride home.

Maeve was almost able to lose Evelyn using the crowd and avoiding the main roads, but Evelyn kept her eye on the girl and followed close enough that losing her with such simple methods was impossible. She didn’t know where the enemy was going, but she was dead set on finding out.

That confidence faltered when Maeve crossed around a back alley and Evelyn rushed to catch up to her. Only to turn the corner and find no trace of the one she was tailing. The only thing she could see was a big church, complete with fenced off cemetery.

Evelyn couldn’t hear any footsteps, and the area was so quiet that such a thing should have been easy. Slowly, looking in every direction, the blonde girl kept walking, trying to figure out where her target had gone.

As Evelyn approached the church’s steps, Saber appeared, sword in hand. “We were found!”

Looking over Saber’s shoulder, there was Maeve, looking directly at the pair. The Vox Master stood straight, with a serious expression on her face, and spoke with a calm tone. “You’re not that inconspicuous. My Servant spotted you before we arrived at the restaurant.” As she finished demoralizing them, her Servant appeared beside her, making Saber tighten his guard in an instant.

But Vox Lancer wasn’t combat ready, still dressed in casual clothes and unarmed. The Servant approached Evelyn and Saber, hand open, and slowly tried to signal to them that he had no intention to fight. “Take another step at your own risk.” Saber sneered, and Lancer stopped.

Speaking softly, Lancer explained. “This is a house of God. I would never fight in a place like this.”

“I want to talk with you.” Maeve spoke to Evelyn directly, directing her to the cemetery entrance. “Let’s have a truce until both sides have spoken their minds.”

Thinking it was better to buy time, at least until they had a better opportunity to attack, Evelyn abided, and signaled Saber to do the same. “Stand down, Saber. Let’s hear them out.” Saber, reluctantly, sheathed his sword, but neither of them dropped their shardlike gazes.

As the two Masters made their way outside, both Servants paced inside the church. The building was otherwise empty, with no priest to be seen, and the only illumination from the menagerie of candles that littered the edges of the chapel. They both walked up to the podium and each blessed themselves. “Glad to see someone else in this war shares the faith.” Lancer spoke.

Saber gave the enemy a quick side glance. “Don’t think that makes us equals.”

Quick to retort, Lancer shrugged. “And why wouldn’t it? We are all sons of God after all.” He received no response after that comment. “Or are you referring to our past lives? You are after all a King, while I was a mere foot soldier.”

“I mean in this war.” Saber interrupted. “We are enemies; that we are both men of God is more a tragedy than anything else.”

Lancer smiled. “I think the same. But we are Servants after all, there’s not much we can choose in our station.”

Figuring out fairly quickly where this was headed, Saber cut to the point. “Except our wishes, right? That’s why the Grail itself called us to battle.”

“What do you wish for, if I may ask?”

Saber took a deep breath before answering, looking up at the huge cross hung up above the podium, contrasted so ominously with the colored glass behind it. “Forgiveness.” He paused. “No matter what I am right now, I was once human. A huge weight of sins and guilt carried on with me after death. I can’t help but think that there will be no peaceful rest for me until God forgives me. Although, looking for divine forgiveness during a war might just add to my sins.”

Hearing his counterpart’s words, Lancer had his own thoughts. “But it doesn’t need to be like this. Yes, only God forgives, but isn’t this Grail we are fighting for proof of His will? That we are fighting here because He wants us too.”

Saber scoffed at the idea. “I believe the Grail was created by human magi; just a means to an end.”

“I don’t believe that.” Lancer was eager to share his point of view; it was his drive to fight. “What if the Grail wasn’t created but found? Not a mere wishing machine, but a connection with our maker in order to carry on His will. Even the Holy Church itself puts so much effort towards its reclamation. Surely that should count for something!”

The enemy Servant was almost entranced; clearly this theory was an important cornerstone of his reason for being. But for Saber, it was beginning to sound like the ravings of a madman. “If this Grail is just an extension of God, why does it allow us humans to control it? Wouldn’t it be easier for it to just say what He wants?”

“A test.” Lancer said, with a smirk on his face. “God is testing humanity to see if they can make the right choice, the right wish. He is merely waiting for us to find our own salvation.”

With his ire growing, Saber barked. “And I’m guessing you already know what this wish is?”

Lancer took his time to answer. “I’ll admit to my Faction’s shortcomings. Their leader is a man that thinks himself above humans.” Saber rolled his eyes, thinking,  _ Says the Servant who claims to know God’s plan _ . “His Grace, as they call him, is not the kind of leader humankind needs.” Lancer then raised his hands up to the heavens. “Therefore, my wish is to bring the real Salvator Mundi! The one and only, Savior of the World!”

Saber had one last question. “And who would that be?” At this point he wanted to shut it all down, but felt obligated to see this through to the end.

Vox Lancer stood in silence, looking down, leaving Saber to draw the conclusion alone. From Saber’s point of view, his enemy was standing under the colored lights that grew from the tinted glass. He also saw the specific way Lancer held his head down, in penance and grief, mirroring the figure on the cross behind him. “You can’t be serious!”

Lancer smiled as his foe finally understood. “Indeed, my Holy Saber. His second coming will save us all.”

Absolutely done with this rambling, Saber could no longer hide his anger. “That arrogance of yours, pretending to know God’s plan. I can finally see that you’re insane.”

“How can you say that? This was foretold in the sacred book.”

“But that’s not your decision to make!” Saber snapped at him. “There’s no way I can follow that train of thought, and no way you think you can make that happen. My Master and I will stop all of you alone if we have to.”

Lancer could only shake his head, disappointed at Saber’s reaction. “And here I thought I could make you comprehend, make you see. If we can’t even see eye to eye in a peaceful discussion, then I suppose we must fight.

***

As the Servants conversed inside, the Masters walked around the small cemetery having their own discussion. As Maeve walked around the tombstones, being careful not to knock over the candles and offerings that adorned them, she turned to meet Evelyn’s gaze. “Where is the Grail?”

Evelyn gave a smug answer. “You mean you don’t know?”

Her tone irked Maeve more than she could know. “Don’t play the fool. We know your side has it.”

“Are you sure? It’s not like it can just move by itself.” The Clocktower prodigy had her own questions. “Who are you, anyway?”

Scowling even harder. “We are Vox Nihili, here to…”

“That’s not what I meant.” Evelyn cut her off. “I don’t want your mission statement. Who are  _ you _ ? You look even younger than me. I can’t imagine why you got tangled up in this mess.”

She let out a loud ‘humph’ as she straightened her uniform. “My name is Maeve Moore. I’m only younger than you by a few months.” So the Vox Nihili knew about them? “I’m doing this for the greatness of humanity. Far greater motives than you lot.”

Evelyn scoffed at that, much like her Servant was doing inside. “Care to elaborate?”

Maeve extended her arms, palms open, closing her eyes as she tilted her head upward. “Opus Dei. The Work of God. And the Grail will be the tool to accomplish this.” This was as much as she was willing to discuss with the enemy. Any more would be pointless.

Evelyn looked back at her fiercely. “And are you ready to fight us for it?”

In response she received a death stare, followed by the grimmest tone of voice Moore could muster. “I’m ready to kill you for it.” Then she slowly backed down, composing herself. “But right now, I need you to come with us.”

In return she received a puzzled look. “That’s not going to happen.” This reminded her of something. “This isn’t the first time your group tried to capture me. What do you want with me, anyway?”

Based on what she had read from the previous briefings, Maeve concluded that it was better to keep it simple. She shrugged and took on a mocking tone. “Why don’t you follow me and find out?”

Evelyn’s answer was. “Saber.”

Hearing his Master call out to him, Saber immediately materialized in front of her, fully clad in his armor and ready to fight. Maeve didn’t even need to call her Servant, as Lancer appeared a moment after Saber did, also dressed for battle.

“Even if I have to cut your Saber down, you’re coming with us today.” She threatened. The two Masters stared at each other, each ready to attack as soon as the other made the first move.

***

By now, Samuel and Xiang had already met with the gangsters and gotten the information they had agreed to. They were meeting the contact in a warehouse by the docks, and the criminals were more than happy to escort the pair of Masters there. According to the casino’s manager, it was always a normal exchange: he would bring a briefcase with the money and bring it alone to the meeting point.

They had completed the prep for the trap and were waiting in the upper areas of the warehouse. The enemy would enter through the main gates, closed at the moment, and the first thing they’d see was Frank with money in hand. They had parked the cars inside, and only the manager in his loud purple suit would be waiting in the open. Samuel and Xiang stayed inside their car, and their Servants stayed in spiritual form. Just as predicted, a black car arrived at the scene, and the guards opened the gate to let it park inside. What really surprised the Masters was that, indeed, only one man had come. “That’s one of the Masters we fought in Arizona.”

Samuel smiled, thinking there was no better prize. “So his Servant must be close by.” They had a clear enemy and it was two to one odds in their favor. “Listen: as soon as he gets back inside his car, I’ll turn on the engine and cut behind him.”

“We’d better get ready then. He didn’t even count the money.” Xiang pointed out as Frank handed the man the briefcase and made some inaudible smalltalk. Once they finished, the enemy Master slowly got into the car. “Step on it!”

Samuel was already ready, moving the car fast enough to even take the mobsters by surprise as both Masters popped out. “You’d better stay inside, and don’t even think about calling your Servant!” He shouted to the enemy Master, still inside the vehicle. Following that, Samuel dismissed his cohorts with a quick gesture and they all scattered, as fast as possible.

Neither Master took a fighting stance, but that didn’t mean they were relaxed, and the Servants were still hidden. Without calling for his Servant, the man stepped out, hands inside his pockets. Samuel and Xiang moved forward to incapacitate him, but both hands whipped out from inside his pockets, revealing two hand grenades, and no safety pins.

To be honest, this wasn’t much of a risk, but the sheer shock factor was all the Vox Master needed to be in the clear. The tall man threw both grenades into his own car and dashed back a few meters as Samuel and Xiang were forced to back up in the other direction to escape the blast.

With some well-earned breathing room, the enemy summoned his Servant. “My name is Denis Lambert, and I won’t back away from a fight.” His Servant manifested from the ground up, appearing atop its jet black steed as if they were both crawling out of Hell itself. The figure clad in nightmarish onyx armor surrounded itself in green flames and prepared his weapons for battle.

“Lancer, Rider!” Xiang called forward their own backup. Her Lancer appeared already wearing her golden armor and staff in hand while Rider showed himself in his warrior clothing.

Not able to flank the enemy from that position, Samuel also stood behind his companions, preparing a fireball in his hands as he did so. “Let’s not drag this out more than it needs to be.”

When, suddenly, Rider turned around to the opened doors and screamed “MASTER!!!” followed by launching himself through the warehouse at a speed they could barely fathom. Samuel and Xiang both looked at each other, wondering what could have happened to Red Harvest back at the manor, but their opponent used this opportunity to rush them.

***

It was night in the forest and I was already fully clothed. Caster was also back from her room, carrying the cauldron with her. “Hey, grandma, we need to keep moving north.” I showed her the map and pointed to the destination.

She turned back on us and stared at me, sneering as she saw the map. “We need to go south first.”

Confused, I replied. “What? No! We are trying to contact the Association. There’s a town close if we move north…”

“I am moving south!” She yelled, and the cabin shook. “It’s my hut that will take us there. We can go to your town after we have done this.”

Still in disbelief, I asked. “What’s so important south of here that we need to go there?”

Something weird happened then. Grandma started to look lost for words and thought, as if she was trying very hard to remember what she needed. She rubbed her temples and eyes for a few seconds, the hut itself rumbling as she did so, the floorboards growling as everything moved, before she said “I need one of them.” She pointed a crooked finger right at Archer, sitting on his side of the hut watching the fight.

More lost than I had yet been with her, I pressed further. “You want another Archer?”

“NO! I want another Servant.” She said nothing more to elaborate, and began to turn back toward the door.

“Like, you want to summon another Servant?” She nodded, but didn’t look too convinced herself. “And you think you can do that south from here?”

“I’m sure I’ll find the right Servant there.” Was all she said

Letting out a big sigh, I relented. “Alright, maybe we can find some way to get help there. How is the hut going to take us there anyway?”

With a flick of Caster’s left hand, the hut moved once more. It was a sudden lurch, like being inside an elevator going up and stopping at a new floor. Without any input from Caster, we began to move at a fast pace. Archer was puzzled at all of this movement. “What’s going on?”

We both ran to the window and saw that we were moving on the ground and through the forest. Not much could be seen from that point of view but it was a good bet that the hut was moving on its own, striding along the trees like it had its own will. Maybe this was why we didn’t feel it before when we had slept. “How long do you think it will take?” I asked.

“We’ll be there tomorrow afternoon, maybe.” Caster then scratched her face absentmindedly with her right hand. Something I hadn’t given much thought of until now was that she had her whole right arm covered from elbow to fingers.

I remembered patching her up, but that had been a wound on the opposite side. “Were you hurt before you met us?”

But it appeared that Caster didn’t hear my question, as she promptly went behind the door and closed it in our faces. Archer then said, only loud enough so that I could hear. “We should make some changes to our own plans before we arrive.”

The night was still young, and it probably wouldn’t make much difference where we were heading. Nonetheless, Archer and I took our time to plan things out; we certainly had enough time to do so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, tell me what you think, and sorry it took so long to update.


	8. The New Orleans Scraps

Red Harvest was making a quick run outside to check on the horses, yearning for some fresh air before shutting himself into his research once more; it should have been anything but dangerous.

The shaman walked through the barn’s hallway and counted heads, he also made sure the animals had enough to eat and drink. By the end he noticed that there was one horse missing. The pen’s door was wide open and the food looked untouched so maybe the animal was still wandering outside.

He was about to take a step outside into the fields to look, taking one of the lanterns to light the way until he heard some rustling going about behind the barn. He rounded the corner and slowly walked behind the bushes. To his horror, the shaman found exactly what he was looking for: Laying on the ground was the horse, completely flat on its side, mouth agape. That in and of itself wasn’t the worst of it; what really shocked the old Master was the blood. Liters of blood stained the whole area, from the ground around the beast to the leaves on the bushes and the nearby wall.

And to top it all off, there was something squirming by its stomach. Red Harvest couldn’t see it right away because of the angle, and against his better judgment, the Master approached the horse, his mind blank with fear.

Now closer, it became quite clear what had caused all of this. Red Harvest was face to face with their Berserker. The little Servant heard the man approaching with care and looked up at him with a proud smile on his face. Quickly, Berserker lifted his head and took a look around, unconcerned about the whole situation. “Oh! It’s night already. Doesn’t matter, I’m almost done here.”

Berserker was sitting in front of the horse’s stomach, which he had cut open from side to side, broken open the ribs, and used his knives to pull the organs out one by one, arranging them into a neatly organized pile beside him. And he had not just removed the organs, but the guts and intestines too, with some of them hanging from the nearby bushes as if they were drying clothes. Again, Berserker smiled and looked down at his prey. “This is the horse that pushed mommy down today. For that he gets punishment.”

Kneeling down to look at the animal, his mind still blank and his voice lost, Red Harvest noticed something that increased his shock. The horse was still breathing, erratic as it was, and his eyes were darting around in horror. Berserker was quick to notice the surprise on the Master’s face and explained. “Ah, I just had to make a small incision on its neck to leave it paralyzed. Wouldn’t have been much of a punishment if it died right when we started!” The cut was deep but with the precision of a surgeon. “I already removed everything important, but maybe I’ll leave the heart. It wouldn’t help much to survive the night.”

In the time it took for Red Harvest to hear that sentence, his expression changed from shocked terror to furious anger, and he stood up, looking at the child in front of him. He reached out and slapped the boy across the face, the sound echoing through the whole estate.

For what felt like an age they each stood there, frozen, before Berserker could react. When he did, his own expression went through several changes. He went from that proud smile, to surprise, to embarrassment, to fear, to rage. He suddenly turned around and pulled his knives from out of the horse’s guts, ready to attack the Master.

*** 

It was then that Rider exited the battle so suddenly, leaving the rest of his group to fight the enemy without him. He still left them in a three-on-two situation, so they still had a numbers advantage. But the urgency of his retreat left them wondering what had happened, which was something the enemy exploited as they rushed in.

Lancer squared off against the enemy Rider, one on one. They would trade blows midair and clash their weapons as they bounded around the loading cages littering the place; somehow, the damp wood of the docks did nothing to stem the spread of the green flames exuding from Vox Rider like his own personal plague.The Servant cared nothing about keeping his power under control, in that regard, both Servants were the same.

Lancer held her ground. As usual, she spent some time sizing up her opponent by dodging his attacks; in fairness, with her arm still numb, such a tactic was about all she could do while waiting for an opening. This Rider did not seem too keen on dragging the fight, though. Lancer was forced into a corner, bumping into one of the cargo boxes with her back, and as she turned an inch to check, the headless rider effortlessly shot her with a huge fireball.

Before Lancer could think about what to do next, Samuel cut in front of her, catching the green fire with both hands and struggled to disperse it. It took the Master a moment and a fair amount of mana before he managed it; this was a fire he had never seen or dealt with before. Nonetheless, he was able to nullify it completely. Too bad it cost him his black coat; the fire had quickly spread to his sleeves even after he had dealt with the fireball.

“What the hell are you doing? I could have handled that easily.” Lancer remarked, pushing him behind her.

Tossing off his burning coat, Samuel answered. “I just figured: enemy with fire based magic. I’m a pyromancer. We can’t be too cautious when facing a Servant.” Lancer sputtered at that nonsense and moved him further out of the way before extending her metal staff. Her weapon knocked the enemy Rider off of his horse as he was charging towards them, sending him flying into the distance. The horse kept going, slowing down as it reached them before stopping. “Oi, let’s move back. I don’t like that thing.”

Confident, Lancer reached out to pat the horse on its head. “I don’t know how that Servant works, but he takes a blow to the gut well enough.” The horse jerked away from her hand at the last second, which surprised her a little bit. “Anyway, let’s find my Master and…” Before she could continue, Lancer felt something hit her on the back of the head.

Rider’s horse had kicked her with its hind legs before running back to its master. A blow so out of nowhere that it took the Servant by surprise, dropping her to her knees. Letting out a haunting laugh, Vox Rider rode towards them at top speed, and weapons drawn. To counter this, Lancer extended her staff behind her into one of the crates behind her before swinging it around like a makeshift hammer, dropping it on top of the Servant before he could reach them.

A moment passed with the enemy covered in debris. Then a torrent of green fire shot up, freeing the enemy Rider from under the cargo box. “If you want to stick around, at least don’t get in my way.” Lancer told the pyromancer before jumping towards the enemy and engaging in battle once again.

Xiang was also locked into battle with the enemy. From the beginning, this woman had been the target of this man; he had jumped right at her and forced her away from her companions down the dock. It was mainly a hand to hand duel between those two, with neither of them showing any kinds of tiredness even as the countless blows began to connect. Xiang kept her attacks direct, using fists and counters against the enemy trying to either grapple or pin her down. 

This being a fight of magi, their moves were boosted to do massive damage while at the same time protecting their bodies, and the environment around them suffered the most damage. Be it every time their attacks hit the cement floor, causing cracks and holes as they did so, or one of the metal crates got the worse end of their blows, leaving deep dents behind, their battle was heating up.

The Vox Master had read the file on Xiang, he read the files regarding all of the enemy Masters, and had concluded this woman to be the strongest one in direct combat. Yes, Samuel was a prolific bounty hunter, Red Harvest’s deeds extended all around the century, Roberta had earned a deadly reputation before being forced into early retirement, but it was this woman in particular that he felt was most dangerous amongst them. Every single tale surrounding the woman was quite extraordinary.

It was easy to see why she merited them, now that he was experiencing her style firsthand. Every attack carried a killing intent. From aiming to the throat or the most vital organs, Xiang was dead set on ending him from the beginning.

As Xiang’s follow up missed, two fingers trying to pierce the man through the throat left a neat hole in the wall behind him. Denis Lambert moved to the side and disappeared into the labyrinth of cargo crates. Deciding to try another approach against her.

For Xiang, this man was putting up a good fight, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle. Seeing him try to escape might have taken her by surprise a little bit, though, especially after his earlier claim. Nonetheless, she went on in pursuit of her foe, moving slowly in case the man tried to ambush her from around a corner.

Indeed, it was suicide to go against the enemy directly, obviously, the best course of action would be to keep his distance and take her out with long distance attacks. What few blows they traded before had been preparation for this set up. He just needed some time to ‘lock on’ to her before he could spring his trap.

Xiang could hear a light whistle at the distance, and it was approaching her fast. Bracing herself for whatever might be coming, she took a stance and quickly parried a falling projectile aimed at her. She took a look at what tried to hit her and discovered it was a trench knife that was thrown. Suddenly, she reacted once more and caught more knives coming from behind her. She still couldn’t see anyone throwing them. Growing frustrated, she discarded the weapons and rushed in the direction they came from, hoping to find her enemy.

On the other side of the docks, Samuel had figured out a way to help Lancer while at the same time doing it from behind cover. He figured Rider would be an easier target if the Servant didn’t have his steed to aid him. Vox Rider used the extra momentum and size to repeatedly tackle and overwhelm Lancer at every opportunity, and that’s not mentioning how impervious the Servant seemed against Lancer’s attacks; no matter how hard the Servant hit him, Rider just wouldn’t stay down, or even show pain (which would naturally be hard to do without a head, I imagine).

The moment Lancer was able to knock her enemy off the horse once again, Samuel took action. To obstruct the path back to its rider, Samuel erected a fire wall in front of the horse. Making a mad dash for it, the pyromancer jumped onto the black horse and tried to steer it away from the battle. Which, being such an eye catching sight, was an effort noticed by both Servants. “What the hell are you doing?!”

Lancer was again at a loss. The horse began to prove itself adamant at being mounted by the magus, jumping around and trying to shake the man off him. “I’m helping you! I have broken wild horses before!”

Lancer tilted her head at him, yelling. “Yeah, but those were normal horses, that’s a creature hell-bent on killing us right now!” He continued to try to break the horse despite the warnings. Lancer wanted to step in but found herself preoccupied, as she caught Vox Rider making his way to recover his horse. She moved in front of the Servant and watched her enemy pull out a large axe to accompany his sword.

As the Servants once again squared off, Samuel felt himself suddenly constrained. He tried to move in his seat, but it was as if the saddle itself was tightening a grip around his legs, and as he grabbed the reins, they too began to wrap around his arms. Lancer had been right; this horse was its own beast, and an enemy in its own right. Samuel might have made a huge mistake.

The woman Servant had to adjust to fighting a headless enemy after her usual head bash with her staff bore no fruit; it was a move born out of muscle memory. Unfortunately for her opponent, this Servant found itself in the same predicament as his companions: he couldn’t harm Lancer. His weapons didn’t even have an effect on her armor. His strength wasn’t the same as Vox Saber, so he couldn’t make any kind of blunt damage towards her, and Lancer was more than able to avoid any attacks aimed at her head; she didn’t need two arms for that.

In one swift blow, Lancer threw her enemy high up in the air with her staff. But before she could throw a follow up, the headless Rider surrounded himself in fire as he reached his maximum altitude. With all of his strength poured into a fireball, Vox Rider launched it upon his enemy with intent to turn her into ashes where she stood.

The Servant girl looked up at the challenge with determination, bracing herself for impact with her armor and staff at the ready. Seeing this, Samuel steered the horse as close as he could to the fight, with the horse trying to fight back. Still, Samuel set his own arms alight, burning through the restraints just in time, then redirecting the fire up at the massive fireball.

In a clash of colors, both spells collided in midair, Samuel’s fighting to push through. Lancer could see the struggle taking its toll on the pyromancer, both understanding that no mere mage could stand up to a Servant and win. While acknowledging also that he was riding a separate enemy, Lancer made a decisive choice. Taking aim at the Servant in the sky, she threw her staff with so much strength it cracked the sound barrier and pierced the enemy Rider with ease.

Now alone with the fireball, and no Servant to keep feeding it, Samuel was able to extinguish the green fire using his own flames, swallowing it up. Once they had a moment, he turned and commented on that brutal attack. “Damn! You think you got him?”

Lancer looked at the sky, her gaze changing into frustration as she did so. “No, that thing is still squirming.” She called her staff back to her hand, and it flew back towards its master, still attached to the enemy Servant. In one quick move, Lancer grabbed her staff and flicked the Servant away from her, sending him flying backwards, off of her staff, into one of the warehouses, demolishing the building on top of it.

Even with all that punishment received, Vox Rider rose slowly out of the rubble with only a hole in his stomach. The Servant didn’t look hindered, still able to move with the same pace as he did before, even lighting himself on fire as he recovered his step. Grunting loudly, Lancer snapped. “Why won’t you die?!” She turned to the magus beside her. “Get off that thing!” Luckily, after it’s master had been thrown away, the saddle had freed Samuel, and he was able to get off cleanly as Lancer ran over.

With ease, Lancer hefted the horse up with one arm, grabbing the animal by its left frontal leg and putting it over her shoulders. “You’re a mare, uh? Alright, sorry to do this to you, but your master is a pain in my ass.” Without notice, Lancer spun around to gather some momentum before chucking the animal towards the approaching Servant. The beast clashed with Vox Rider, sending both of them back to hit the next warehouse in that path.

Figuring that wouldn’t keep them down for too long, Samuel warned his companion. “We should go now.” 

Letting out a big sigh, Lancer relented. “Yeah. I don’t think we have enough to put this thing down.” It pained her pride, but this was more of a strategic retreat than a defeat. Maybe she would’ve found a way to damage that monster if she didn’t need to look after her Master and the pyromancer. That’s what she thought, anyway.

***

Xiang wandered the maze of boxes, repeatedly being assaulted by the flying knives. She dealt with each wave easily enough, and kept trying to use them to find her foe. With each successive wave, she began to notice a pattern. They always came from the direction she was coming from, no matter how many times she changed directions, so they must have been targeting her back. Another thing was that the number of blades was exactly seven, each and every time. To prove it, she grabbed a knife during one wave, and sure enough, the next wave was one knife short.

So it was the same seven knives she had been fighting this whole time, and her enemy was managing to recover them each time to throw them again. Again, as proof she grabbed all the knives, and something different happened. As she picked up the last knife and began to inspect it, all the blades began to shake in her hands, before shooting out of her grip at high speeds, cutting her hands as they did so. They then grouped up in the air and formed a small circle, pointing at their target.

As she prepared to start dodging again, a voice called out from the room. “So you finally figured it out.” Covered in the moonlight, the Vox Master stood high while looking down upon his enemy. “Those are my knives. They’ll follow you no matter where you try to…”

Xiang had ideas other than letting him finish. The monk jumped high, directly toward her enemy, and the knives flew in behind her. Surprised at her audacity, Denis nonetheless stood his ground, refusing to let himself be intimidated. He realized he needed only to hold the woman and keep her in one place while the knives skewered her from the back. And again, to his surprise, Xiang changed her direction mid jump, kicking the crate Denis was standing on. She placed such strength on that kick that she bent the container down the middle, toppling her enemy over to meet the sharp end of his attack while she jumped backwards into safety.

Despite the clever play, this didn’t end the fight. No, Xiang wasn’t so lucky. The knives curved midair and followed their targets instead of piercing the man falling down. Still, this left Xiang in a favorable position as her jump landed her back in an open space. Free from the cramp clustered mess of the container boxes, Xiang prepared herself to, once more, parry the flying knives.

Denis landed in front of her, more furious now than before. Wasting no time on words, the Vox Master pulled out more knives and daggers from out of his clothes. He formed a small dome around Xiang, leaving no way for her to jump away. The wall of blades began to move towards the girl at a speed even faster than before, and, with no way to escape, Xiang used all of her skill to parry and/or dodge the onslaught of sharp weapons.

Unfortunately, this effort was futile, seeing how the knocked over blades would fly back around for endless chances at cutting the Master. Even with her level of skill, it was only a matter of time before a hit or two began connecting. It started with some cuts around her body before some of the smaller blades managed to stab her limbs.

So entranced was she with the blades that she almost missed her enemy charging towards her from behind, trying to drive a trench knife through her skull. She somehow managed to dodge it at the last second, moving out of the way, only receiving a cut on the left side of her head for her trouble.

What happened next was too fast for even the combatants to understand, both moving by pure instinct. Xiang dodged that attack and was able to grab Denis’ arm as she did. The knives stopped in that moment as if waiting for the result of the grapple, which gave her enough breathing room to slam the man against the ground, leaving a crater in the floor. Denis then quickly rose to his knees and tried again to stab Xiang with the trench knife, but his foe was faster. Xiang parried the attack and delivered a blow to his face. In his tenacious mania, Denis took one of the scattered knives with his free hand and tried to stand up as he attacked. With her quick reactions, Xiang kicked his foot to throw his balance off, grabbed his wrist and hit him in the elbow, making a loud cracking sound as she did and forcing the man to drop his new weapon.

Xiang followed up with another hit to the jaw, disorienting the enemy furthermore, then an open palmed hit to the face, bending his nose the wrong way and throwing him to the ground. In quick succession, a flurry of blows came down on him, from his torso up to his face, making him bleed more with every punch. She then picked up her opponent and threw the man backwards into some metal barrels.

But she wasn’t finished with him yet. Xiang ran towards her enemy with anger in her eyes. With his consciousness still intact, Denis tried once more to call the knives forward, extending his arm to prompt them into attacking the woman. Xiang was quick to notice this and jumped high before burying her feet down into the concrete ground as she landed before kicking hundreds of small concrete pebbles towards the blades, knocking them out of the air. With that out of the way, she continued her attack on her downed enemy by grabbing a hold of his extended hand and crushing it in her own.

Now that she had him on her mercy, Xiang picked up where she left it and repeatedly punched him in the face, mangling it to the point that the swelling, blood, and cuts made him unrecognizable from the start of the fight. After a dozen more blows, Xiang stopped, holding her fist in the air while she looked down on him. Denis looked at her with his remaining good eye, wheezing and spitting some blood before asking, “What is it? Can’t finish your prey, Demon?”

Angry after hearing that name, Xiang was about to drop her last punch on him, until she felt someone holding her arm back. She whipped around to see it was Lancer, looking at her with worried eyes. “I think you won already.”

The fire left from her eyes. “Ah…” The Master still looked angry, and was breathing quite heavily, but she put her arm down and let her enemy go. “Yeah… Let’s go…” She took a few steps away, not looking at her Servant as she did so, before she found the task too difficult for her, stumbling.

Lancer caught her before she could topple over. “You’re hurt, let me take you back.” Not waiting for an answer, the Servant gave her Master a shoulder to lean on. “They’ll patch you up back at the manor.”

“Don’t you dare turn you back on me!” The enemy Master yelled at them. “I’m not going to let you walk away from this.” It proved a hard proclamation as he couldn’t even stand, let alone stop them. Lancer looked at him and sneered, it would be so easy to snatch him right there even with one good arm and already carrying Xiang. But something froze her in place before she could do so. “Rider!”

At his command, the Servant appeared beside him, on top of his mount once more. Indeed, Lancer was shocked at the idea of fighting this Servant again, especially with her wounded Master by her arm, and she could forget about capturing the man.

Luckily, a pair of lights shined upon them, followed by a burst of machine gun fire. It was Samuel; he had brought the car around to pick up the girls, and used one of the car’s gadgets to cause a distraction. The machine guns pinned the enemy Servant in place as it stood to block its Master from harm, and Lancer quickly ran to the car. After she placed Xiang on the passenger seat, Samuel instructed her. “Follow us close, watch our backs.” Hearing that, Lancer tapped her heels together, forming a pair of golden clouds form around her feet, letting her levitate around in the air.

Ready to go, Samuel stopped the fire and floored it out of there. Xiang was still coming to her senses, once the bullets stopped, she could see the enemy Rider covered in bullet holes. “How do… the bullets hurt the Servant?”

While he was maneuvering out of the docks, Samuel called over his shoulder. “This car is a Noble Phantasm, I’d be surprised if it did nothing to Servants.”

Against all odds and all reason, Denis stood on his own two feet, ready to go on in pursuit. With the help of his Servant, he got on the dark horse and ordered. “After them!”

Vox Rider chased them at top speed, catching up to the car rather quickly. They got the car in view and both enemies prepared to unleash their attacks. That was, until their horse was knocked down mid sprint, sending both of its riders rolling on the floor at high speed.

Denis needed help from his Servant to be able to stand up. They both checked on the mount. The cause of their failing was quite clear: a spear made of fire had pierced the horse down its front. It was nothing that the horse itself couldn’t brush off after the fire died down, but if they were to continue their pursuit, the enemy was probably on the main streets now and they were trying to keep a low profile. The whole situation was enough to make the man scream. “That damn pyromancer!”

***

Assassin watched the man collapse in agony and frustration through his binoculars, as Kaito sat nearby. With the Servant acting as a spotter of sorts, the boy had shot his fire magic out of his fingers to aid in his companions’ escape. A small smirk appeared on Assassin’s face, the boy was quick to ask. “Did I get ‘em?”

“Bullseye. They’ve given up pursuit. Good work.” The Servant commended the young Master.

Kaito smiled and did a little celebration . “Think we should follow him?”

Assassin shook his head. “I’ll follow him on my own. I’m just glad the situation didn’t get worse.”

He was right; they had been lucky. Kaito hadn’t even needed to call in Caster. “What about that Servant, any of you think you can take him?”

“That there was my strongest Noble Phantasm, and it only distracted him.” Assassin stated.

Caster appeared beside them,a pensive look on her face. “I can’t tell; it’ll take time to figure out how his senses even work before I begin thinking about fooling them. How do you trick a man with no head?”

Knowing this was the extent of their help, Kaito got up to leave. “We should go now. Meet up with Eve and go back.” Kaito and Assassin shook hands. “Thanks for the help, I’m sure my Master will appreciate it. I’m glad you took my call. And don’t be put off by the lack of action; that’s spy work for you.”

They separated and Caster grabbed her Master by the hips. “This time you’ll be flying Air Houdini!” She had grown bored hanging out in spirit form. The least she wanted was to see the city lights as they went back. “Hang on!” And with one powerful leap, off they went to find their companion.

***

Far away from the docks and deeper into the city, Maeve and Evelyn moved their duel to the rooftops, a place devoid of people. Having spoken enough back at the church, Vox Lancer and Saber had started their duel. Lancer aimed for the head from the get go and Saber was having some difficulties finding a chance to attack under his enemy’s relentlessness.

Watching the Servants fight from a safe distance were the two Masters, but they wouldn’t stay as bystanders for much longer. Maeve began looking around for something to use as a weapon. “You’re lucky, you know?” Catching Evelyn’s attention, the girl turned around to her enemy. “You caught me without my sword. This mission would’ve been over by now if that wasn’t the case.” She finally found a large plank of wood half broken from one side and she wielded as a sword after reinforcing it with her magic.

Not to be impressed by that, Evelyn answered. “I think I can handle a little spar with you.” She took a fighting stance and donned a serious expression.

“Take comfort knowing I won’t kill you. You are a worthless death.” She rushed forward, their duel began. Maeve decided to use her superior swordsmanship to push Evelyn to the defensive, slashing and closing the distance as she did so. The blonde girl was capable of dodging her relentless assault, with few difficulties, only finding her opponent a bit too far to hit back.

She had little time to think about this as Maeve dropped her weapon on top of her, but still; There was something more to it than simple physical force. As Maeve hit the floor with her plank of wood, she left a deep mark on the floor, as if she had cut it with that strike. “You’re using more than one kind of magic, right?”

With a smug smile on her face, Maeve mocked her opponent. “I don’t know, why don’t you try and figure it out?”

Hearing that, Evelyn smirked, deciding she’d bring the girl down on her next attack. Their fight picked up again and Evelyn opted to start parrying the attacks instead of dodging them. The red haired girl was quickly brought down when she rushed in for a piercing attack. To her surprise, Evelyn crossed her arms and stood still, determined to take the full force of the attack. And despite Maeve’s confidence, that proved to be the best option for the blonde mage.

Like hitting a wall, Maeve’s improvised sword tore itself apart as she hit her target. The failed attack placed Maeve at arm’s length and Evelyn instantly threw a right hook that sent her enemy stumbling backwards.

With a shocked expression on her face, Maeve looked up at her foe and quickly composed herself. Another once over and she was able to notice some bright lines and symbols glowing all over Evelyn’s body before fading out.

Moving her arm out to show her magic again, the lines and symbols began to glow once more. Evelyn smiled; this was the one thing she was most proud of and today it was in rare form. “We Robicheaux perfected a way to create a magical barrier all around us. Think about it like a suit of armor that weighs nothing and has a wide range of uses.” Of course, it came with its own set of cons and side effects. One of these was that she needed time to ‘warm’ it up before she could cast it. But her enemies need not know that.

Letting her anger boil down, Maeve broke off one of the spear-like fence pieces surrounding the edge of the roof, reinforcing it like she had done with the wood. “Don’t think that’ll protect you from my magic!” Her ‘sword’ was a balanced combination of reinforcement, wind, and alchemy to create a perfect blade to use in battle. As restricted as she was in this arena, she needed to make do with whatever weapon she could find. This meant most of her more powerful attacks were out of the question, but she was confident in her skills.

*

As their Masters’ duel heated up, the Servants found themselves each growing familiar with the other’s movements and patterns. This led to a lot more clashes than landed hits. It was during one of the times their weapons locked that both of them felt something amiss with their weapons. The feeling was like a small resonance going from the tip of their blades all the way down. Recovering from the initial surprise faster than his enemy, Saber pushed Lancer back and attempted a cut to his torso, which was easily parried by the enemy’s shield and they both jumped back.

After inspecting the tip of his spear, Vox Lancer gestured to Saber. “That’s a mighty sword you wield. I can feel the bloodlust with every swing.”

More than surprised, such a comment left Saber completely dumbfounded. “What are you talking about?”

Pointing at him with his weapon, Lancer explained. “I mean just what you heard, Saber. I have been on countless battlefields in my previous life. This experience has made it second nature to detect the enemy’s thirst for blood, and yours is a strong one.” He expected nothing less from one who was a king in a previous life.

Growing angry at that accusation, Saber snarled at his foe. “My strength lies in my conviction and courage, not something so barbaric as bloodlust.”

Lancer lifted his shield before continuing. “Then, why do you smile as we fight?” Saber took a step back in surprise. The Servant hadn’t noticed that while they were trading blows and his expression reflected that. “Perhaps you have more in common with our Saber than you think.”

Having enough of this little chat, Saber went back to the offensive into a full on charge, resolved to cut his opponent down.

*

The Masters had been drawn to a stalemate. Their duel had been one of sword vs shield; the unstoppable force against the immovable object, with all the baggage that came with. Maeve was too fast for Evelyn to score another hit; her last had only been successful because of surprise, and Evelyn’s full body barrier proved too sturdy for Maeve to penetrate.

Nonetheless, Maeve’s extensive battle training gave her the slight edge. While the battle wore on, the red headed girl began to brew new ideas, keeping a close eye on the barrier and how exactly it worked, and how it reacted to many different types of blows. Soon she began to realize something important about this impenetrable defense.

It was adapting to the different amounts of strength each attack carried. Stronger attacks met a sturdier defense than the light blows she gave out either as feints or volleys. It reacted and hardened to pressure inflicted, probably to conserve mana so Evelyn didn’t need to have it at full strength in all places at all times. Maeve also noticed how fast it reacted. She could deliver a bevy of sword slashes and it sprang to action without being commanded. It seemed the perfect defense against Maeve.

In summary, Evelyn had a full body barrier protecting her without specific command, reacted to different kinds of attacks, and did so fast enough that someone would have to be supersonic to outpace it.

Yet, it wasn’t perfect.

The Masters traded a few blows that separated the two. Both of them were breathing rapidly and growing frustrated at their inability to end their opponent.

Still brainstorming some way to cut through the girl’s defense, Maeve hatched a new plan. Sneakily, the girl replaced her already beaten up bar with two new ones, hiding one on her back, under her clothes.

Giving no time for Evelyn to begin her own assault, Maeve took a broad stance with her new weapon, gathering mana from all over her body as she did so. Once she was ready, Maeve began running toward her enemy at full speed. Evelyn braced herself for the clash, gritting her teeth and holding her ground.

But this wasn’t to be one big attack from Maeve. About midway from where she started her charge, the red haired girl threw the spear in her hand. The projectile hit Evelyn on her right shoulder, with enough force that it moved her slightly. It hadn’t been enough to send her flying backwards, but it had made her flinch and lower her guard. Even faster now, Maeve revealed the second spear she had made, reinforcing it as quickly as possible before taking a backhanded swing to the girl’s left leg.

The Vox Master’s reasoning was that she would overload the barrier on one side then attack the less protected part of Evelyn’s body before the focus of the defense could shift. Luckily, her guess was right, and her left handed swing drew some blood. Refusing to leave any openings, Maeve used her free hand to punch Evelyn in the stomach with her remaining strength. That last punch proved the clincher, sending the blonde flying backwards through the nearby skylight.

*

From a distance he saw his Master plummet through the window. “Master!” Saber tried to jump to the girl’s rescue, but his enemy stepped directly in his path.

*

Maeve readied to jump through the open window to decisively end this fight, but found herself unable to move her legs. She had poured so much of her mana into that last attack that she was completely drained, and it had taken a toll on her body. It wasn’t any permanent damage, so she’d have to try to push through until the fight was over.

Providing as much support to her legs as she could, Maeve leaped into the opening to find her opponent. The inside of the building was dark, the dim lights from the outside creating small pockets of visibility. Maeve only needed to follow the blood trail; Luckily magus blood inherently held mana, and was easy to track. She pulled out a small pouch from under her hat and poured the luminous contents on the ground, which were then immediately pulled toward the nearest blood.

There was little in the way of furniture to stumble around and the room seemed to be some kind of workshop; it was littered with tools and scrap material. Moments later her device found its target: Evelyn was standing back against a brick wall, one hand clutching paper towels over a new wound, and staring straight at her enemy.

The blonde girl tried to buy time. “Well, you found me. What do you need me for, anyway? Isn’t the Grail what you really want?”

She pointed a sharp bar at the wounded girl. “We need to entertain every possibility, dignify every piece of information with a response, if we want to find it.” She took a ready stance. “If you don’t move, I will knock you out with one hit.” Shaking her head, with the same strength as before, Maeve launched herself toward Evelyn, with the intention to knock her out where she stood.

And despite the intention, all that momentum came to a sudden halt as Maeve crashed headfirst into something hard, before stumbling backwards and falling to the floor unconscious. Letting out a long sigh of relief, Evelyn commented. “Good thing you cut me back there, I would have hated drawing the blood myself.”

She looked around. To one side stood a metal beam serving as support for the room, and on the other side was a wall. Evelyn had used the downtime between falling in here and Maeve’s own descent to smear some extra blood from her leg wound and painted a square that ran from the wall beam to the wall next to it, creating a solid magic barrier to protect her and betting that Maeve would try to rush her again. With her knockout confirmed, Evelyn looked around the workshop for something to stop the bleeding. 

*

The Servants had landed on the roof, still trading blows, but remaining unharmed. They locked weapons once more and rebounded, creating distance between them. With no more room for banter or words, both Servants rushed in again, weapons forward, blades again clashing as they met.

The whole encounter only lasted for a few seconds, but for the combatants, it lasted an age. Each of them lost themselves, and began to recall flashes of countless battlefields, always with the enemy’s weapon the focus. Neither of them could fully appreciate what was happening, but eventually both were able to snap back to reality, seeing the results of the exchange.

Saber’s sword had cut Vox Lancer’s right shoulder, not deep enough to immobilize but enough to get past his armor, and enough to spill blood. Lancer was able to stick his blade in between Saber’s armor plates and strike his left armpit, which also drew blood. With one powerful kick, Saber separated himself from his enemy and began to inspect his weapon and contemplate those visions. There was something so specific about them; seeing his enemy’s weapon being used made him think about his own sword and what might have prompted that.

It all hit him once he saw Vox Lancer inspecting his spear with the same diligence as he had his sword. “Your spear…” Connecting the dots was easy after that. “I know who you are now.” Saber proclaimed with a stern look on his face.

Not wanting to give him a chance to react, Vox Lancer jumped high on the air before dropping towards Saber at high speed. Such an obvious move was able to be blocked with ease by Saber, he merely needed to brace his sword and legs for the impact. Yet the force of the blow was strong enough to make the roof collapse from underneath them, making both Servants fall into the same room where Evelyn and Maeve had finished their fight.

Separating once more, the Servants’ attention was quickly called to the other side of the room where Evelyn was restraining an unconscious Maeve with some spare rope. “Miss!” This time it was Vox Lancer that rushed to his Master’s aid, his path getting cut off by Saber.

“Stop!” Evelyn yelled. “We are done here.” Both Servants turned their attention to her. The blonde Master placed one leg on top of her unconscious enemy. “Your Master has been defeated. You can either choose to keep fighting, and I’ll kill her, or you can retreat with her.”

With no real options, Lancer grit his teeth and knelt down, placing both his shield and spear on the floor. “Alright. I’ll wait here until you two make your retreat.” It was surprisingly easy to get him to comply.

Not wanting to overstay the Servant’s good will, Saber walked to his Master, finally noticing her leg wound. “Master, you’re hurt…”

Evelyn never took her eyes off of Vox Lancer. “I’ll be fine, just get me out of here.” With some doubts in his head, Saber nodded, picked up his Master and carried her out of that place. Despite the plan, and how late it was already, they decided to somehow find their companions before going back to the manor.

***

It took them longer than expected, but within the hour Saber found Kaito and Caster wandering the streets. The Servant pulled over and rolled down a window. “Get in, we have to go back.”

Kaito got the front seat while Caster slid in behind, immediately noticing a wounded Evelyn and gasping. “What happened to you?!”

“I’m fine, just a run in with the enemy.” Evelyn gave a quick chipper answer, it wasn’t that deep a cut, and thanks to Saber’s ability it didn’t hurt much.

“What about you, Saber?” Kaito was quick to notice the Servant keeping his armpit closed, avoiding even using his left arm to drive.

“That’s not important right now. What we need to do is make our way back to the manor as soon as possible; I found out something important during my fight.” The road home was a long one, especially with all the traffic they needed to avoid.

Remembering what happened at the docks too, Caster shouted out. “Yes! Something happened that made Rider rush back home in the middle of the fight.” This only added to their desperation to get back.

***

The teen group was way behind Samuel and Xiang’s group. As soon as they made it out of the city, and away from the public eye, Lancer got anxious about waiting for the car to make it back the normal way, her injured Master might have added on to this. Unwilling to waste any more time, Lancer lifted their car over her shoulders and used her magic cloud to fly them both back to the manor.

While still up in the air, Samuel and Lancer spotted something odd happening down below. The manor, their headquarters, was covered with a thick layer of mist. “What happened down there?” Lancer asked.

Already having an idea, Samuel gave some quick direction. “Let’s hope things aren’t as bad as they look. Try not to breathe the mist in.” He was pretty sure he knew what that mist meant, and promptly closed the windows while rumbling around to find something he could use.

Landing the car at a safe distance in front of the main building, Lancer quickly realized the truth in Samuel’s warning. The mist surrounding them was poisonous, fatally so to humans. Thankfully, a Servant of her stature was basically unaffected. Samuel got out of the car with a handkerchief covering his mouth. “Listen, I want you to take Xiang to a safe place inside, somewhere the mist hasn’t gotten to.”

He went around the other side and helped the wounded Master exit the car, she herself holding another handkerchief. Lancer helped her Master move inside and Samuel went around the house to the training grounds, believing he could find someone there who could explain.

Lancer passed several hallways and corridors, seeing none of the guards or other Masters around as she moved. Unable to find help for her Master, the Servant found the infirmary, uncovered by mist luckily enough, and put Xiang down to patch her up.

Outside, Samuel found two Servants fighting, and surprisingly, they were both from his group. One was Berserker and the other Rider, each of them trading blows and dodging attacks from the other; it really looked like they were trying to kill each other. Not wanting to get in the middle of, Samuel decided to look around and find their Masters.

The first one he spotted was Red Harvest taking cover behind some of the stone walls around the garden, too busy trying to survive the mist to work his magecraft. Lighting up a strong fire, he screamed. “Come over here!” Hearing that, the shaman got up and rushed to his side. “What’s happening?!”

With a rag over his mouth and nose, Red Harvest answered. “Roberta’s Servant has gone mad, he attacked me.” The man was hunching over while holding his right side, and a small inspection revealed to Samuel that he was bleeding from some kind of wound.

Keeping his fire strong enough to eat away at the mist around them. “Let’s find Roberta and get her to put a stop to this.” They walked around while staying close, trying to find the other Master around those gardens while at the same time avoiding the fight happening near them.

The missing Master was also found taking cover, looking lost in the middle of the mist but fine physically. She spotted the fire quite fast and they joined together in the middle. “You need to order your Servant to stop!” She was quick to order the old man.

“It’s your kid that’s out of control! You must stop this.” The shaman retorted.

Although distressed, Roberta wasn’t about to let herself be pushed around. It seemed she didn’t yet understand the danger of the situation; she didn’t even have her face covered “You were the one that attacked first…”

Which made Samuel react. “You what? Why would you attack a Servant?”

Trying to explain himself, Red Harvest shouted. “Because it’s out of control, no matter how much she vouches for him, he can’t be trusted.”

“That’s rich coming from you!” Roberta snapped back.

Samuel tried to separate them. “Alright, listen…”

But neither of them would let up. “Look around you, this mist is Berserker’s work, he doesn’t even think about us. How many guards have to die for your fantasy?” 

“Why can’t you just call your…” But Samuel had to cut all of this short.

“Both of you, shut up!” Now that he had their attention, he dictated orders. “Point is, we need to make the mist stop before it’s too late. Roberta, you calm your kid down, Harvest, you better tell Rider to knock it off.”

***

Lancer was still inside patching Xiang as best she could, but even her Master had to admit she wasn’t the best at it. “Give the bandages to me, you can help pull out the knives.”

Hearing the request, Lancer helped Xiang with the task. First pulling out the ones on her legs before covering them with bandages. “You don’t fight like a monk.” Was the first thing she said.

“You didn’t see the whole fight!” Xiang snapped, but then sighed. “No, I do not. I was mostly self-taught growing up. It wasn’t until my teenage years that I started training at the temple.” 

Lancer started opening up cupboards and cabinets looking for something that could help with the patch up. “Tough life before the monks found you?” She figured the talk would help to take her mind away from the pain.

“To say the least. I grew up without parents and away from civilization. Hunger ran rampant, most would die from it. The army’s purges would take the rest. I was lucky to cross paths with one of the masters of the temple when I did.” Even with all her wounds, the Master managed to smile there.

Lancer smiled too. “He treated you like his own? Monks are known to do that with lost children.”

“Most people would say he was like a father to me, but that’s not true.” She finished tightening her bandages. “He wasn’t ‘like’ a father, he was my father.” While reminiscing about her past, the Master began to giggle about something. “I remember, he used to read your story to me all the time, I couldn’t read then, and he would say: ‘Xiang, you’re like this Monkey King…’...” She remembered who she was talking to right then, having forgotten about it for a second. Regaining her composure. “…‘You’re reckless and hopeless, but capable of great things. I will be like the monk and guide you through a better path.’… I could use some of that guidance right now.”

Right after she said that, the door to the infirmary swung open, and Samuel and Red Harvest limped in. Looking past them, they noticed the lack of mist behind them. The worst seemed to be over. “Alright, old man, sit here and I’ll patch you up.” He sat the shaman on a bed beside Xiang and began to look him over.

Joining them was Rider, covered in cuts and bleeding all over the place. “What happened to you?” Lancer asked. “And what happened here anyway. Were we attacked?”

Letting out a long sigh, Samuel explained. “Harvest here thought it would be a good idea to start a fight with Berserker. Obviously Rider came to help and that just escalated things.”

Still adamant about his actions, the shaman protested. “That Servant can’t be trusted and you know that!” His temper was quickly brought down when Samuel poured the alcohol onto his wound, both the wound and his voice sizzling. “…You were there when the summoning happened. Can you think of anything that might have gone wrong?”

Samuel stopped for a few seconds to think of that possibility. “Girls, either of you want to give me a hand with Rider? This wound is rather deep.” Lancer and Xiang moved closer to the wounded Servant, working together to patch him up.

While Lancer was busy cleaning Rider’s wounds, she commented. “Was it a tough fight?”

Rider was barely reacting to the cuts, sporting a stern look on his face. “The kid is faster than you’d think. None of this is fatal though, I’ll be fine.”

“Hurts like the devil, I bet.” Samuel could hear them from his side of the room. “And you too, Harvest. Cuts and stabs are a pain to deal with. A spell, even a bullet, I prefer to deal with those over a knife.” This prompted some eye rolls in response.

“What happened to your mission?” The old shaman asked.

“Well, hmmmmmm… It went fine all things considered.” Even Xiang and Lancer had their doubts about that. “We brought the fight to the enemy, managed to come back with minimal damage, and I’m sure they will move their operations out of New Orleans for now. We’ve got them on the run.”

“That Master sure isn’t going to be fighting any time soon.” Xiang spoke up to share her part of the story.

Less than encouraging about the whole thing, Lancer interjected. “The problem was that Servant. Nothing I threw at him was effective.” This still baffled her. “How can that be?”

Red Harvest asked. “Was it the headless Servant you talked about.” The girls nodded in response. “I can’t think of any reason why, but being unharmed by physical damage reminds me of some spirits and magical creatures. We ought to research into it as soon as possible.” Something about this exchange reminded him of two other people. “Did you see your pupil out there?”

Stopping what he was doing, Samuel looked at the shaman. “Why would I run into my pupil in the city when I told him to stay here?” The lack of response put him on edge. “Did you tell Kai that he should follow after me on my mission?”

Calmly now, not wanting to stir another member of his faction on the same night. “Your Servant phoned us and asked for help. He and the girl nicked a car to meet up with him.”

“Alright…” Samuel stood up, trying to calm down as he thought his options over for a second, then threw the bandages to the old man in front of him. “You can bandage your own wounds for now.” And stormed off, leaving the rest of his companions speechless. He scolded himself for not thinking about his pupil sooner.

While making his way out of the manor, Samuel was stopped by Roberta. “Where are you going?” But the man didn’t stop, walking past her. “Hey, what are you planning to do with Berserker?”

Realizing she wasn’t going to let it go, Samuel stopped. “Where is he now?”

Taken aback by his tone, Roberta quietly answered. “He is sleeping in my room… He apologized for what happened, but I…”

She was cut off right there. “Roberta…” He rubbed his temples before answering. “This isn’t a child that misbehaved; your Servant tried to kill one of us, and I’m pretty sure he succeeded with some of the guards.” This was yet another thing he needed to look over as soon as he found Kaito. “Listen, I have to find my pupil right now. You better have him under control before I come back.”

Roberta had also forgotten the teenagers weren’t there. “You think they are in danger?”

Still unable to calm down, and anxious about moving out, he passed by her again. “Oh, they are in danger alright, they just don’t know it yet.” Looking at his friend once again. “What to do with Berserker is not going to be my decision alone, nor yours. Tomorrow we are all going to sit in the conference room and discuss it.”

And Roberta wasn’t about to let it end like this. “But I already told you…”

Samuel spun on her; he had something more important to do at the moment. “I know! He didn’t mean it. I also know why you’re so stubborn about protecting him.” Maybe he knew it from the first time he saw them together and couldn’t find the right words then. “I know who he reminds you of, believe me I thought the same.” He grabbed her by the shoulders. “But this isn’t the place or time for that. I’m trying to get all of you out of this alive and this!” He gesticulated around them. “This is just making it difficult.”

Roberta kept silent for a while, looking down at the floor then at Samuel before shaking her head to the sides, her throat began to run dry as she went teary eyed about this whole affair. Without warning, she slapped Samuel across the face. “I hope you find the kids.” On that last note, Roberta walked away.

Face still turned from the blow, Samuel left her with one last task. “Can you round up the guards and everyone else that might be hurt?” He received only a dismissive hand gesture from Roberta.

***

Samuel had left the manor again and headed to his car, ready to reenter the city in search of his pupil. Just as he was turning the engine on, a pair of highlights arrived. It was one of the vehicles from the Association. The passengers quickly exited the car and Samuel saw they were Kaito and Evelyn with their Servants.

Approaching the boy, Samuel immediately started the interrogation. “What were you two thinking going out on your own?!”

Surprised at the angry welcome. “S-Sorry, but your Servant called me and said…”

“Zip it, I don’t want to hear it now!” He saw Saber helping Evelyn out of the car, the girl still holding the bloodstained rags over her leg. “And what happened to you?”

It was Kaito that answered. “They got into a fight with the enemy… I was at the docks too, you know?” Master and pupil looked eye to eye. “I stopped that headless freak from running after you. So in the end, you needed me.” He didn’t say anything else and soon averted his eyes from Samuel’s glare.

“Take Evelyn to the infirmary, then ask Roberta what you can do to help. We’ll catch up tomorrow.” Without anything else to say, Kaito followed his orders and walked away. Samuel stood in place and watched the three of them step inside, now alone to think things over.

Just for a few seconds though, Caster walked by his side and saw him standing there all tense up. “You know they were just trying to help. You shouldn’t be so hard on them.”

“What they did was reckless, and insolent. Don’t think I’m letting Assassin off the hook, either.” Samuel kept it short before walking away, leaving Caster to watch in silence.

***

The battle was over, and every Master was accounted for. The injured ones patched themselves up, and the rest of them worked on the guards that had been affected by Berserker’s mist. Samuel was proven right, as they found many bodies littered around the manor and in their tents where they had been staying. Most of the guards that had survived had only done so thanks to their own fast reactions, but even those were not without harm. Very few of them knew who had been responsible for the poisonous mist and the Masters weren’t very keen to explain things to them, not before they had the chance to speak about it amongst themselves first, anyway.

With so much work to do, the unharmed Masters weren’t free to sleep until early hours of the morning. Kaito received a talking-to from Samuel, stern but short, considering the hour, and Roberta was left alone to retreat inside her room.

It should be a no brainer that the woman collapsed on her bed as soon as she entered her room. From under the covers, a lump slowly made its way up the bed until it found her head and peeked out from within. “What is it, mom?” Getting no answer, the kid laid on her back, looking at the ceiling as he did so.

“Why did you do it, Berserker?” She needed to know that at least. “Not just the fight, but the horse too. You didn’t need to do anything like that.”

Taking a few seconds to think about his Master’s question. Berserker didn’t smile, he just answered plainly. “I want to protect you. To be by your side.”

It wasn’t the answer she was looking for. “I know that, it’s just… Why do you feel like that? We haven’t even known each other a month.”

Berserker still had nothing substantial to say, but he was honest. “That’s how I felt the moment I appeared. It’s the only thing inside my head; the very idea that called me towards you.”

Roberta didn’t know what to think any more. Nonetheless, Berserker’s response told her something interesting. It gave her an idea about what to say tomorrow during their meeting; some ground she could stand on when she was thrown to the wolves.

The woman got comfortable in bed and pulled the covers over her. “I’m going to sleep now. Try not to hang around too late. Tomorrow’s an important day.” And sure as she said, she turned the lights off and drifted off into slumber. Little Berserker could see the worry on her face, and in that moment he realized what he had done. He took on a glum look and decided to wait things out in spirit form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed that one.


	9. Liars and Thieves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where I asked myself if I made the Servants' identities too easy to guess in some cases.
> 
> You know, aside from the ones already named and the too obvious to miss.

The next day of my fairytale life went without problems. We actually arrived at Caster’s destination before noon. The hut stopped in the middle of the forest, no closer to civilization despite all my hopes.

Caster was to depart in a few hours, and Archer was given the task of scouting the area. This left me with some time to catch some sunlight and breathe fresh air.

It was during my little walk that I found a man loafing around a campsite area; not too far away from our hut but hidden well enough in the forest to not have a trail leading to it. He was a young man with short red hair covered by a brown hat. He was also wearing light clothing and was lying on top of his jacket. Judging from the littered cans of beer around the camp, he had been there a while.

The young man didn’t even notice when I approached him, jumping in place when I shook him awake. “Oh, hey! Are you lost or something?”

I caught a whiff of his breath there, and a good look at his yellow teeth. “I was just exploring. I’m on a camping trip with my family.”

Still lying on the ground. “Cool, that’s fun. Hey, pass me a beer while you’re up.” I looked back and saw the red cooler resting by a log. Putting the bad manners aside, I reached inside and gave the man his beer. He took a sip of his drink and asked. “You want one?”

“I’m ten…” He shrugged and took another swig as I pointed to the sun. “And it’s not even noon.”

While taking some sips of beer, he snickered. “I started drinking when I was a little older than you. C’mon, grab one and sit with me.”

Against my better judgment, I took the last beer from the cooler and popped it open. I was about to just ignore it, but the man looked me in the eyes and wouldn’t avert his gaze until he saw me drink it. It was bitter, obviously, but it wasn’t that bad. “What’s your name?”

With a smile on his face. “I’m James, what’s yours?”

“Isa.” After I took another sip. “What are you doing getting drunk in the middle of the forest?”

He answered simply. “Hunting trip.”

I squinted my eyes at that answer. “Where is your gun?”

Taking another sip, the man reached to his back and pulled out a revolver, cocking it as he did so. “Haven’t seen much prey, though.”

Rolling my eyes at that, I thought  _ maybe it was because he’d been drinking instead of hunting _ . “Do you know where the closest town is, James?”

He gave it a quick thought while he enjoyed his drink. “No towns nearby. But if you go that way…” He pointed east from there. “You’ll find some people on a camping trip of their own, maybe they could give you a hand.” After a giggle. “But they don’t have... phones or anything like that. You could go that way…” Pointing west. “And you’ll find a manor with some stables around back. They would be able to help you as well.”

So we had options. “How far are they?”

“I’d say you are in the middle of both places. It shouldn’t take you long to get to either place.” With that said, the man stood up, picking up his jacket and dusting it off as he did so. “Well, I have to get going now, hope to see you around, Isa.”

I left my half empty drink on the log and prepared myself to go back too. “Thanks for the help.” And with not much else to do there I promptly left the camp.

***

The Masters at the manor had gathered in the meeting room. At this point they were just waiting for Samuel to call the Dean. Before that, though, “Alright, we need to decide what to do and what we are willing to disclose.”

“Aren’t we going to call the Dean?” Evelyn asked, puzzled about his implication.

“We will… after we decide how we’re going to do it.” Samuel had to make sure their stories were straight. “None of the guards fully know what happened after they passed out… or, you know… died. So the only ones who can give an accurate description of what happened are sitting here in this room.”

“Are you asking us to lie?” Xiang asked.

“No, no. I’m just saying there are things the Association doesn’t need to know about.” Really, he was trying to protect Roberta from what the Association might do if they knew what happened, but there was no need to pull another party into the argument. “We are the ones trapped fighting in this war. There’s no point fighting each other, and no point to selling each other out.”

Not fully convinced, the shaman nonetheless spoke up. “Yes. I think we can deal with this on our own.”

“I really don’t mind.” Xiang threw in her two cents.

Evelyn kept quiet so her silence was taken as acceptance. 

Kaito offered. “Alright, better than to get in trouble with the higher ups.” They might get in more trouble if the Association found out later, but that’s a problem for future Kaito, he figured.

Roberta kept silent for a while before answering. “No problem here.” With everyone present in agreement, and a nod from Samuel, the woman pulled out a piece of chalk and began drawing on the table. “This is the summoning circle I used with Berserker.” She managed to make a miniature drawing of said circle.

Upon inspection, Xiang noticed something different from the one she used. “It’s a little more complex than the one I used.”

“Yes, I thought it was better to make some changes to keep Berserker in check. I was not only going against his strong personality but his instinctual desires.” A lot of precautions needed to be taken when one summoned a Berserker class Servant, considering their unpredictability and general insanity. And Roberta did all of this on the fly, so it wasn’t surprising that something could have gone wrong.

“So you’re telling us an unaccountable error during his summoning is what caused your Servant to attack us?” Red Harvest wasn’t open to this lack of accountability.

Roberta gave an exasperated sigh. “It’s the only thing I can think of. Don’t forget that you attacked him first.”

Stopping this before it got worse, Samuel intervened with a loud tap on the table. “The point is, can you keep Berserker under control from here on?” At that, Roberta went silent. “We can’t let him go out free if that could happen again.”

“Where is he right now?” Kaito squeaked out nervously. The whole atmosphere was getting too heavy for him.

“He is in my room. I told him not to leave.” As far as she knew he was keeping that promise.

“None of you are seeing the most important point here.” Xiang interjected, raising her voice and leaning in. “Let’s say we discuss this with the Association. They will either force us to get rid of Berserker, or send a replacement for Roberta. How do you think that would go?” She looked around the room, knowing the trouble a new person might bring to their group. “Either way we will be down one Servant and we can’t afford that now.”

Red Harvest pointed out something else important. “She still has two command seals. She could always be backup for one of us if something were to happen.”

Samuel intervened once more. “It’s not just that. We don’t…” He had to stop and think for a few seconds. “I hand picked you because I knew we could work together better than a bunch of random mages the Association could put together. If we go clean about what happened, I’m sure they’ll take Roberta out without even thinking about it.”

Not wanting to let it go, Red Harvest continued to push. “So what, we just ignore what happened?”

“Again, I’m not saying that. But, Roberta, you need to promise us you can keep Berserker from doing something like this again.”

Roberta sounded defeated but nevertheless agreed. “I can do that. You want a weapon to unleash against the enemy, you’ll get that.”

Accepting her answer, Samuel then stated. “Ok, if no one’s against it, I say we keep Berserker’s outburst a secret.” He looked around the table, and while he saw apprehension, he also saw acceptance.

*

Outside the room, the Servants were all hanging out in the kitchen, except for Berserker. They each carried worry about what might happen and couldn’t keep themselves from growing fearful. Saber turned to his bandaged companion. “How are you feeling?”

Rider was still recovering, but was not weak, and answered. “I’m fine, I just hope nothing bad happens to Miss Roberta.” The woman had looked quite sad in his eyes. “What happened is not her fault.”

Letting out a big sigh, Caster spoke up. “What about your Masters? They both ended up hurt yesterday.” She felt guilt about her lack of involvement in the skirmishes the night before. She could have been a boon to either of them.

“Evelyn is a tough magus. She can brush off that little cut like nothing.” Saber was quick to announce.

“It is the same with my own Master. He might be old but he hasn’t survived this long by being fragile.”

Drawing all their attention by sitting up from the couch, Lancer butted in with a load moan. “I sure wish I had some of that resilience, my arm is killing me right now.” The Servant rubbed her shoulder over her bandages.

Something about that sight made Saber jump on his seat. “Oh! I totally forgot about it!” Still in his casual clothing, he summoned his sword and approached Lancer. “I fought the enemy Lancer last night, and let me tell you, it was quite the insightful encounter.”

Confused at his words. “What are you talking about?” Without answer, Saber asked for her arm.

“I figured it out while our weapons clashed. That Servant’s name is Longinus, his weapon is infused into the pommel of my sword.” Silence ran across the room and he again asked for Lancer’s bad arm. “In my legend, Longinus’ spear, which pierced the side of the Savior, was used to make my sword. True or not, this might be the way to fix your arm. So, may I?”

Relenting, Lancer let him touch her. “And just how sure you’re that this will fix me?”

Saber moved his shirt out of the way, showing the wound he received last night. “His spear managed to hit past my armor, yet, my arm is fine after that encounter.”

All of the Servants gathered around Lancer to see the magic happen. “He has a point, his legend states it quite clearly. Maybe we can use the same kind of magic to cure you.” Caster advised. She watched as Saber began to work his healing magecraft. “You’re going at it too soft, ramp it up, the enemy is breathing down our necks.”

Rider instead warned against rash actions. “No, this is the right amount of power, you can’t accelerate healing like this.” All of this while Lancer felt awkward being the center of this kind of attention.

They stayed like this, just watching Saber channeling power to the pommel of his sword to heal Lancer, for quite a while. Before they knew it, all of the Masters walked out of the meeting room.

Quickly, all of the Servants paired up with their Masters. Caster approached Kaito. “What’s up with all the long faces?”

Rider helped his own Master walk. “How did everything go?” But the Masters kept their silence.

Sensing the gloomy atmosphere, Saber asked slowly. “Evelyn, what happened in there?”

The girl answered with a whisper. “I’ll tell you in my room.”

Even Lancer found herself puzzled by their joint attitude. It didn’t help that she was ignored by her own Master. “Xiang, where are you going?”

Stopping in her tracks. “I was thinking about hitting the training grounds for a while. I need to throw some punches. Want to come?”

Lancer couldn’t resist joining up. “Sure, lead the way.” And the two of them disappeared into the hallways.

This left Samuel and Roberta alone. Letting out a sigh filled with sadness and disappointment. “I’ll go deal with Berserker.”

“Hey, for what it’s worth. Nobody is angry with you, believe me.” It was the least he could say to Roberta. Not saying anything else in response, the woman waved Samuel goodbye and left him to think about their next move.

***

In the training grounds behind the manor, some of the Masters and Servants had gathered to blow off some steam. Xiang herself was practicing some martial arts alone. Practicing her forms and stances as she moved as gently as the light breeze of the wind blowing.

“Are you sure you’re fine to do all that after yesterday?” Lancer asked. Although only light wounds, her Master’s cuts were plentiful.

“I’m feeling better already, and my body feels rested. There’s no better time to train.” She was very consistent with her practice. It was something she found reinvigorating and calming to the mind. Also, it was something she needed after yesterday’s night and today’s morning. “I have trained myself in different styles and many ways of combat, but the first ones I ever learned were Dragon…” The Master took the style’s stance. “And Mantis…”

Seeing her Master practice and hearing her short story, Lancer said. “No Monkey?” She showed the form and gained no reaction from Xiang, not even a peep, and instantly deflated.

But something did catch her Master’s attention. “Your hand.” Lancer’s last session with Saber was already yielding results in the most subtle of ways. As the Servant took stance, even if she still couldn’t take her arm out of that sling, she was finally able to move her fingers.

“Oh, yeah, Saber helped me out.” A miracle through Xiang’s eyes. “It’s still a long way before I’m fully healed, but it’s a good start for me.”

Which brought a light smirk to Xiang’s face. “You should be at full strength in no time.”

“Yeah, I can’t wait for it.” Even her shoulder stinged less. “This is the longest time it has taken me to heal from something. That spear is one mighty weapon.”

The young woman took notice of that slight frustration settling on Lancer’s face. “You want to spar with me?”

Surprised at hearing that. “Again, you up to it? I may only have one arm, but I’m still me.”

Brushing aside Lancer’s legitimate concern, Xiang took a fierce stance. “Sure, fighting someone strong ought to make for good practice.”

*

On the other side of the fields, Saber could be seen lively practicing his swordsmanship, running around the place and striking at nothing, and it appeared that was enough workout for him. Evelyn looked at his Servant moving all around and asked the only other Servant around, Caster. “What got into him all of the sudden?”

Caster was sitting on a nearby bench, watching her companion train with a light smile on her face. “I told him I could help him train and he took me up on my offer.” She remembered Saber’s incredulous eyes when she offered it. “He is trying to catch an illusion of me, but I created it to make it move faster than his thoughts. So he is pretty much fighting his own mind.”

It was certainly an abstract way of training. “Caster, don’t be mean, free him.”

“I say let’s keep him under it for a while longer, he is having a blast.” Saber was containing a smile under all the frustration he felt unable to hit his target, obviously happier at having a good training partner than anything else. “Tell me about the girl you fought against.”

“She was resourceful, I’ll say that much, but I have fought more proficient magi at the Tower.” Inherent competition between the students and continual sparring kept her on her feet.

Caster glanced at her bandaged leg. “Don’t take her lightly, she won’t hesitate to kill you.”

“Actually, I don’t know why, but she wasn’t trying to kill me. Maybe harm me enough to not be able to fight back, but her real plan was to capture me.” It was something she had already mentioned to all the Masters, but received few reactions and fewer answers at that. “What do you make of that?”

Thinking about this new piece of information. “What else did she say?”

Evelyn didn’t need to think much for this. “She was convinced I had the Grail, or at least knew where to find it.”

“Interesting…” Caster thought long and hard about this, trying to gather all the loose information she had concerning the Grail, the enemy, and her own faction. “And you are one hundred percent sure you don’t know where it is?”

Slightly taken aback. “Of course not! I would have handed it over if that was the case.”

“Yet more interesting…” Nonetheless, the Servant could only throw her hands on the air. “Can’t say I have an answer. What do the rest of the Masters say?”

Resting her head on her hands. “Pretty much the same, I wish the Association offered us more real help.”

With a bright smile, Caster raised up her friend by the chin. “Cheer up, Eve, at least we are complete.”

Evelyn tried to give a small smile. “Yeah, that’s a good point.” She proceeded to stand up. “I’m going back inside for a while, please don’t keep Saber busy too long.” The girl needed to make a private call, and with all the Masters busy, this was the perfect time.

*

On the last part of the training grounds, Kaito and Samuel were training. It was mainly Kaito shooting targets while his teacher observed, and mused about recent events. Soon enough, Kaito ran out of targets to shoot and Samuel wasn’t even paying attention to that.

It took a small cough from Kaito to catch his attention. “Good work, Kai. Why don’t you go free range from here on.”

Rolling his eyes, the young man sat down on one of the nearby benches. “What’s the point if you’re not paying attention?” He said under his breath as he ignored his sensei’s instructions.

Samuel kept his cool, aside from the quick punch he gave Kaito on the head, but aside from that he sat beside his student and sighed. “I have more important things to think about right now.”

Kaito rubbed the top of his head before asking. “You always tell me how serious your sensei took practice.” Quickly clearing his throat before adding. “ ‘Practice makes perfect, that’s what my old master drilled into me’, have you forgotten?”

The old man held in the urge to hit him again before answering. “Don’t get smart with me. Also, she never kept that tight a leash on me as I do with you; she wouldn’t bring me on missions, for example.” After some fast reminisce. “I mostly practiced with Roberta, she packs a mean fireball.”

That last titbit caught Kaito by surprise. “What?! I didn’t know Miss Roberta could do fire magic.”

“Her mom was a pyromancer and she is a great observer.” Samuel gave off a quick shrug. “She focused more on potions as time went on, but I’m sure some tricks stuck with her.” Suddenly, he remembered they weren’t there to chat. “Alright, enough rest for you, go back to practice.”

Before his sensei could stand up though. “C’mon, I was getting comfortable here.” He tried to bring the topic back up, at least now it was clear who had him all worried. “Can’t you tell me why you and Miss Roberta stopped talking?”

“We didn’t stop talking, I just started visiting her less often.” Pretty sure that was the same, but Kaito kept his mouth shut. “It’s not a topic I like to discuss out of respect for her. So, no, you would have more luck asking her.”

Again, it was easy for Kaito to read his mood, but didn’t want to end the talk there. “What are you going to do about the enemy? I mean, we pretty much ran them out of New Orleans with that little stunt.”

“Assassin’s got that covered. He followed the enemy convoy out of the city.” He added. “I told him to focus on that headless Servant in particular; figure out how to take him down.”

Kaito had also seen the fight, or part of it. “What other Servants does the enemy have? We already saw Archer and Rider, and their Assassin is gone.”

Samuel recounted the previous encounters. “Xiang and Evelyn fought their Lancer, and Saber is a big blond guy.” This left two Servants unaccounted for. “We should look out for Caster and Berserker, especially if our own Berserker is going to be out for a while.”

Without thinking, Kaito blurted out his first thought. “Maybe one of them took the Grail and that’s why we haven’t seen them.”

“Maybe, we really can’t say.” Putting that thought aside, Samuel looked at the rest of his companions sparring or training on their own and got a brilliant idea. “Let’s spar. You and me. Show me what you got.”

Seeing his teacher lit up a small fire on the palm of his hand made Kaito retreat back before following suit. “Fine by me, just a heads up: I’ll fight you seriously.”

*

With the training grounds all full, Red Harvest and Rider took to the stables. Unfortunately, Berserker’s mist had also affected the horses, leaving no survivors behind. The guards already swept the place and cleaned it thoroughly, saving them the gruesome sight, but the two of them still found themselves wandering the place in silence, the shaman in particular trying to help the spirits move on.

Trying to put aside the heavy atmosphere, Rider took it up himself to break the silence. “How is your wound, Master?”

“Healing alright, all things considered. It wasn’t a deep cut.” Red Harvest might be walking slower than normal, but he was still looking strong. “This is far from the worst wound I have received in my life; I’ll pull through.”

Thinking for a second, Rider decided to pry a bit more. “You must have some interesting stories.”

“Sure, some of my most interesting years were right after I left the village at sixteen.” The shaman didn’t need much to start talking. “I wanted to see the world outside my home as a normal person, so I changed my name and tried to avoid magus work.”

“Wait, you’re telling me Red Harvest isn’t your real name?” That was the detail that hooked him.

Chuckling and Rider’s reaction, the shaman decided to go into further detail. “I never truly liked my birth name. So I decided, if no one outside my village knew me at all, why not change it to something more interesting?” Now outside the stables, the shaman took a breath of fresh air before continuing their talk. “Your family is full of scary names, if I remember correctly.”

Rider simply brushed that comment aside and the took began their walk back to the manor. “You also went to war, but I heard war is different nowadays. I can’t imagine the entire world fighting each other at the same time.” He didn’t sound scared, or thrilled, more puzzled at such an extreme image.

“I can’t think of a quick way to explain that to you.” The more he tried to abridge those conflicts the more confusing it became. “Yes, I had to lie about my age to get me shipped overseas, and even then I served mostly as a medic, but I did my part in the 1910s.” As best as possible at least. “Once the war was over, I broke from the army and traveled Europe on my own. A whole new continent to explore and all the time in the world to do so.”

“That’s good, great in fact, wanting to expand your horizons that far.” A warm smile appearing on the Servant’s face.

“That’s just the beginning though.” Rider got him in the mood for storytelling, something that was sure not to fade for a while. “I’ll tell you how I brought Dragon’s Breath to America on the way to the manor, just a heads up, it’s a long story.”

Not like that mattered to Rider, he was already into his Master’s stories and, with nothing else to do for the rest of the day, he was willing to sit down and hear him all day. It was a great way to distract them from last night’s fight and the wounds they received.

*

Which finally led to Roberta and Berserker. The Master had prepared their room for a session of aromatherapy, she just needed the last touches. By now, the room was filled with a green haze from top to bottom. Roberta had already taken the antitoxin to stay awake and Berserker had been inhaling the fumes for a long while now, making him dizzy.

It was a rushed job, but putting Berserker into a deep sleep was the only way out of this predicament. The drugs would keep her Servant knocked out and only she would be able to wake him up to fight. Despite her guilt, this felt like the best course of action.

He had held out longer than she had anticipated, but he was on his last tracks already. “Mom… I feel sleepy…”

They were both sitting on the bed, with Berserker on Roberta’s lap. “Just go to sleep. I won’t leave you.”

With his conscious mind slipping away, the Servant couldn’t form words. “Are they mad… what I did…?”

“Don’t worry about that… It’ll blow over before you know it.” She wasn’t lying outwardly; she was hoping for the best there. “Sorry I couldn’t do more for you.”

The dizziness was hitting him hard, and he spoke vaguely. “The eye patch man said earlier… What was he talking about?”

Roberta knew quite well what he was talking about. “He was saying that you remind me of somebody…” Maybe a quick story will speed up the process, she didn’t want to fall into the same sleep as Berserker. “It’s true, you remind me so much of somebody that we both knew, but it was a long time ago so maybe I’m remembering him wrong.”

Now his eyes were heavy and he was beginning to drift. “What happened…?”

Fighting back tears just like last night, she explained. “One day he just… stopped breathing…”

“Oh… I’m sorry…” He went limp after that, succumbing to the effects of the gas.

“You don’t have to be sorry… it’s not your fault.” With that dealt with, she placed Berserker on bed, opening the room’s window to ventilate the place. She then grabbed her equipment and walked out. The day was still early, and there was still much that needed to be done.

***

“That was pretty much it.” Evelyn was done with her report to the Dean.

The man was equal parts surprised and shocked about how much information was kept from him. “I can’t believe that pyromancer. Lying to his superior like this.” And about such a sensitive topic nonetheless. “How is that Servant being dealt with?”

“I can’t say, but I haven’t seen him around all day. It seems Miss Roberta is keeping her promise after all.” Evelyn was more worried about the woman than she felt bad blowing the whistle on them. “What are you planning on doing?”

“Obviously, we are going to pull Berserker out of the fight, you can’t have Servants like that running with such freedom. About that Vasquez woman, that’s going to be a more complicated manner.” It would be one thing if she was the only one that lied, but all of the Masters lied to protect her. “Ordering her to retreat might not be the best option now. But we will need to be sure she can still be trusted.”

Those words came from a logical place, but that didn’t mean Evelyn wasn’t going to feel bad hearing them. “Dean… No, nothing else to report.”

Before ending the call. “I know you might feel some guilt about what I’ve asked of you, but don’t forget the rest of your team is there to help you out.” They ended their progress report call after that. Evelyn, feeling no better about anything that had happened, went out to retrieve Saber, then retreated back to her room again.

***

“Archer!” There was still no answer. Well, none from  _ my _ Servant, at least.

“Hey! I’m trying to think here!” Grandma screamed back at me. She was standing in the middle of the kitchen, trying to hold herself in place, like her head was hurting. “I’m trying to… I want to look…” I took her by the hand and led her to the bed, since she was looking so confused. When I turned around to get her some water, Caster wrapped her arms around my torso, bringing me back to a hug. “Vasilisa…”

That name again; it brought up so many questions. “Just who…” I bit my tongue before asking. Grandma didn’t look all together  _ there _ , even more so than usual. Asking her outright might not be the best path. “Grandma, when was the first time we met?”

“Hmmm…” Caster looked pensive for a moment. “It was during winter, when I’m more lucid.” She began to rock me side to side, slowly. “The forest was white with snow and you came looking for warmth and shelter.”

“Was I alone?” At this point I was just prying more information about her legend.

“You were sent into the woods to fetch some firewood to bring it back home to your family.”

Her embrace was neither painful nor unpleasant; in fact, it had been a while since I was held with such care. “What happened next?”

“You got your fire, some burning coals, and went back.” Her grip tightened. “Then you came back and stayed with me.”

“W-Why did I come back if I already had a home?” I couldn’t imagine how horrible she must have been with the real girl.

Without warning, Caster turned me around to face her. “Girl…This is your home. I taught you all you know about magic, I’m more family to you than to those people that sent you out in the cold that day.”

I suddenly couldn’t help it and broke down crying; not simple tears running down my face, full on sobbing. “Why then…” Nowadays, I can see why it hit me so hard. “Why are you so mean with me…” Even before all of this started, I had no real home, no real friends. At least here I had Archer and Caster, and I knew how important I was for them, even if it was for the wrong reasons. “You’re always kicking me and hitting me…You don’t care about me!” In that moment I could sympathize with that Vasilisa, what with me being, metaphorically, thrown into the cold for this War.

There was no response to this, grandma just looked at me in the eyes, with my face all red for all that crying, and tried to hug me. I resisted at first, lifting my arms to stop her from wrapping her arms around me, but she was so adamant that she ended up bringing me closer. It was just the two of us, with Caster’s right hand, all bandaged up as usual, patting me in the back to calm me down.

After a few minutes I stopped all my sobbing and Caster broke the hug, wiping my tears with her fingers. That’s when she noticed how late it had become. “I have to step out now, it’s almost dark.” She got up and walked towards the door. “All of this will be over soon…Don’t step out of the cabin until I’m back.” She sounded gravely serious there, not even turning around to deliver this warning.

Not that I felt inclined to walk out anyway. Really, I just wanted to lie down for a while, and I had to wait for Archer to come back.

***

Sundown was imminent for the larger group.Caster and Kaito sat up on the balcony and enjoyed the view as they spoke about recent events. “Well, if you ask me, there’s more to Berserker than a summoning gone wrong.” Caster explained. “Servants are a complicated mess and the people’s views on their legends twists them even more. Who can dictate what he is or isn’t, really?”

Kaito shrugged. “I really don’t have an opinion on that, but I hope nothing bad happens to Miss Roberta.”

Caster sputtered at that. “As long as nobody talks, and even then, I don’t think your sensei is going to let something happen to her.” Watching Kaito’s puzzled expression made her smile. “You really missed all the signals? Those two are madly in love with one another.”

The problem was that Kaito was having some troubles accepting the idea. “I don’t think my sensei can love anyone, he often sticks with people he finds amusing and that’s it.”

“Oh, Kai, adult’s love is more complicated than that, and those two have a ton of history together.” She cleared her throat and began her lesson. “We know they grew up together and only in the past years they stopped speaking.” This was just some light backstory she received from Kaito himself. “But the way they speak is like they never missed a day together, everyone will have some awkward moments catching up with a long distance friend, yet those two go at it like…”

“A married couple?” The boy spoke up, the expression seeming perfect in his mind.

Caster snapped her fingers. “That’s right. Has he told you anything about her before this?”

“No. The most he ever told me is that he has been all around the world and that he grew up in Mexico.” He tried to remember anything else but that was it. “Closest thing he ever got to mention in terms of family was with his teacher, but that was mostly during training and him explaining the crest.”

Caster put her finger to her chin and thought for a moment. “Sounds like star-crossed lovers to me. Something must have broken them apart all those years.” Sighing lightly, Caster switched gears. “But enough about speculations,” she wanted to take advantage of the love talk in order to learn something about her Master. “Tell me about you! Do you have a bachelorette in mind?”

“What?!” Poor Kaito looked like he’d been blindsided.

Standing up to do some theatrics. “You know, a sweet girl you want to meet again, a little glimpse of hope to keep you going through war time. Someone that is waiting for you to come home, every day watching through the cottage window just hoping to see you standing on the other side of the garden’s fence.” Her eyes were shining as she imitated the hypothetical girl’s excitement.

It painted a good picture of Caster’s mind. Kaito waved his hands wildly as if to scatter the thoughts. “Stop that! There’s no one like that and certainly not living on a farm.”

Which deflated Caster a bit, until she got another idea. “Oh, could it be that you found her during this war?” Again, the implications surprised Kaito, his blush out of control. “Let’s see, Evelyn is the most probable, she being your same age and all, and also, you two have been warming up to each other fast.” She looked at her Master, with expectant looks, slowly getting closer to his face.

“No.” But Caster didn’t drop that expectant smile. “No! I don’t think about her that way, so drop it.”

No problem, she still had more candidates. “What about Xiang? You like strong women? Also, she just emanates elegance. She is such a catch.”

“She is, like, ten years older than me.” Was the first thing he could come up with to dismiss her ideas.

Growing worried at the situation. “Then tell me! There’s no other woman in your life; it’s either Evelyn or Xiang. I promise I won’t tell!” Another thought crossed her mind. “What about Lancer? I’m sure she…”

Kaito had had enough of this talk. “Just drop it, Mom!” He regained some composure. “It’s hard to fall in love while a ton of people want you dead. I promise that as soon as it happens, I’ll let you know, but until then, let’s not talk about it.” He then turned to Caster with a determined expression, his look telling her to stop this nonsense.

To his surprise, Caster had a smug look on her face and a smile to match it. With a small whisper. “Did you just call me ‘Mom’?”

Unable to find words to explain himself, he shuffled away as far as he could. “N-No! I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

It didn’t matter to the Servant; she began to laugh right there. “You can call me Mom any time you like, I don’t mind. Am I a cool mom at least? It sure is difficult being a single mom when you’re a Servant in the middle of a Grail war…” She went on like that for a while, putting a lot of emphasis every single time she said ‘mom’, much to Kaito’s annoyance.

Kaito looked at his hand, admiring the possibility of shutting her up with a command seal. He backed down and opted for another route. “Could you stop it already?”

“It’s all for fun, Kai, don’t worry.” She ruffled his hair a bit and threw herself on the chair next to him and stretched out in place. “Here, grumpy. Why don’t we stay quiet for a while and watch the sun go down.” She reclined all the way down and stared at the distance for a few seconds. It was then that she realized something strange about her surroundings. “Wasn’t the sun already going down a few minutes back?”

Kaito shrugged. “What do you mean?”

“I  _ mean _ it should be night by now.” Caster moved her arms around, tracing her fingers along the air. “And the air is different too.”

Her Master did the same. “I don’t feel anything different.”

“Believe me, there’s foul play here.” She found it in the small details. As a whole, everything felt fine, it was when she unraveled every single sense on its own that her reality began to fall apart. She could see ‘air’ moving their clothing and some tree branches along, but could not actually feel it on her skin. Smells also seemed to vanish, leaving no traces behind. “Someone trapped us inside an illusion. A half-baked illusion, probably made on the fly hoping we wouldn’t notice.”

Shooting out of his seat, “What?!” Kaito looked around, trying to catch the culprit. “We have to warn the others!”

Caster stopped him before he could get lost. “Don’t bother. We are not really in the manor; it’s just an image made out of our memories.” Caster already had a pretty good idea of what was going on. “Whoever did this knows what it wants and only has a few minutes to get it, so if we don’t hurry out of here it might escape our grasp.”

Still thinking about their predicament, and trying to wrap his head around everything at once, Kaito started thinking out loud. “But we are trapped. How can we even get them like this?” Shaking his head and smacking his face a bit to clear his worry, Kaito remembered the seals in the back of his hand. “I got it! I can just free you using these!”

“That won’t be necessary.” Caster put his hand down and began to concentrate. “You have heard of mind over matter, right?” Kaito nodded, but Caster wasn’t looking in his direction any more. “Well, right now that doesn’t help us much seeing how our minds are trapped.” She began doing some stretches, mostly flexing her arms, as she spoke. “We need both mind and matter for this. Our bodies are in the real world just waiting for our minds to command them.”

Keeping up with the flexing and exercises, Caster was trying to get a good feeling of how deep the illusion was, how much control it took away from her. Inhaling and exhaling in a slow rhythm as she tried to lock mind and body together again. Some seconds later and she extended her right arm out, with one finger pointing forward. “My brain is the key that sets me free…”

After she said that, Kaito heard a loud cracking sound come from her before his Servant vanished in front of his eyes. It took him a few seconds for him to approach where she had just been and ask. “Caster?” There was no trace of the Servant anywhere, confusing him greatly. That’s when he felt a painful feeling on his left cheek and found himself sitting back in his chair.

Caster was bent over his face, checking on him. “I’m sorry if I hurt you, but I had to bring you out of there somehow. A good slap to the face always works wonders in those kinds of situations.”

Holding his face, the pain was already abating. “Don’t worry…How did you…”

Showing her right hand, and her index finger all twisted and broken. “I just had one moment to send a strong enough sensation through my whole body.” It was nothing she couldn’t put back together in seconds, and she did just that pulling it back into its basic shape. “There, it’s not fixed, but it will hold until this situation is dealt with.”

Kaito snapped back to the moment. “Yes! We have to wake up the others!” And the two of them ran inside to find the rest of their teammates.

The first they encountered was Samuel, in the kitchen staring at an open refrigerator, followed by Roberta sitting in front of a powered off television. Dividing the workload, Caster took to the woman and Kaito looked to his Master. Realizing what needed to be done, Kaito clenched his fist and bit his lip. “I’m sorry, sensei.”

Samuel awoke with a strong sensation of pain. “What the…?” Before he could get any explanation, his instincts kicked in and punched back, dropping his student to the floor.

Holding his nose shut, Kaito shouted up. “What the hell? I was freeing you from the illusion!” Putting two and two together, Samuel apologetically reached down a hand to help his student up. Luckily, neither seemed to really be hurt.

“So all that was an illusion?” Roberta could be heard from the other side of the room, rubbing her red cheek. “Seems like the same thing Harvest and I found in the forest a few days back.”

Thinking on the fly, Samuel spoke.”The enemy is here, then. But why aren’t they attacking? What do they want?”

The answer came quickly from Caster, who remembered an earlier conversation. “It’s Evelyn. They are trying to take her. We need to get to her, now!”

Samuel nodded and dished out orders. “Alright. You two get to Evelyn before they can. Roberta and I’ll go round up the rest.” Before they could run off, he grabbed Kaito’s arm for one last thing. “Listen, you go directly to her; run past any enemy you see.”

Once upstairs, the duo found Saber standing guard in the hallway, just beside the door to Evelyn’s room. Like the rest, he was completely motionless. “Wake him up; I’ll get Eve.” Caster said, before rushing inside. Her attention was immediately drawn to the sound of the shower running in the adjoining bathroom. Checking within, Caster opened the curtains and found the girl in question, apparently caught in the middle of a shower, but nonetheless frozen like the rest. “It’s a good thing I didn’t send Kai in here. Better get you out of there before you get all pruny.”

Waking her up was easy enough; Caster only needed to turn the water as cold as possible. As the girl jumped back to avoid the water, she screamed. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

Caster turned off the water and handed Evelyn a towel. “We are under attack, get dressed.” She stayed with the girl throughout to make sure nothing happened.

When the girls rushed out into the hallway they found Kaito and Saber with their guards up, each looking into a different direction in case trouble appeared. “Kaito already told me everything, Master. I’m ready to protect you with my life!”

Even Caster moved closer to the girl. “You told me earlier the enemy was trying to get you. Guess they were feeling a little cocky tonight.”

Sensing no danger nearby, Kaito signaled the group to keep moving. “Our best play is to join with...” That’s when they all saw another figure on the other side of the hallway; one they all recognized right away. “Berserker?”

Creepily staring straight past them, he stood unmoving, hunched over, his face covered by darkness, his eyes still showing past the shadow of his face. Slowly, Saber and Caster moved in front of their Masters, quickly noticing that this wasn’t normal, even for him. “Where is your Master?” Caster asked, already sensing some magecraft afoot. Before she could get an answer, they all saw Saber raising his sword.

“Wait! He is still our teammate!” Evelyn shouted.

Trying to defuse the situation, Caster said slowly. “You’re not making this better. Put it down.” She looked at him, but got no response. “Back me up here, Kai.”

He was also on edge, though. “I’m with him; you remember what happened last night.”

Giving no more time for discussion Saber began ordering them. “All of you back away slowly, keep behind me.” He wasn’t about to start a fight without real provocation. “If we find Miss Roberta, maybe she can speak some sense into him.”

Doing as instructed, the whole party moved backwards in a straight line, making way towards the stairs and always keeping an eye on the murderous child.

As they rounded the corner and moved down the stairs, they finally felt comfortable enough to make a break for it to meet with the others. Then the group suddenly stopped; Evelyn froze in place and Kaito crashed into her. “What is it, Eve? We have to keep moving.” Turning around, he saw the girl looking through a nearby window.

The girl had been so busy inspecting the outside that she lost track of what she was doing inside. “I swear there was someone outside…”

Growing a bit agitated, Kaito tried to move her along. “Probably Miss Roberta and my master, let’s move.”

“No, I mean flying in the air, I know it’s weird but you have to believe me.” She was still looking out the window, looking for that figure, at least a small glimpse of it.

“What’s the hold up, move!” Saber was losing some of his patience. Both he and Caster looked behind to check. During that small window of opportunity, Berserker sprinted towards them at high speed.

“Get down!” Caster took action and shielded both teenagers while Saber prepared to deflect, ready to take on the mad Servant.

Once Berserker was close enough, Saber let his sword down on him, realizing for the first time how fast that kid could really be. Before his strike could hit the floor beneath them, Berserker slid down and between his legs, making it past him without issue. Beating Saber and Caster’s reaction time by jumping high and forward, he used Kaito’s back as a springboard to throw himself through the window Evelyn had been standing in front of just a few seconds prior.

The four of them peered through the window to check on the Servant. Slightly too late, unfortunately; there was no sign of Berserker anywhere in sight. Slowly the scare wore off. “We need to find the rest, c’mon!” Kaito yelled and the rest of them went back to the plan, running down the stairs to find their teammates.

Finally reaching the patio and looking around, Roberta and Samuel found not their companions, nor the enemy, just an eerie silence. The wind howling in the distance was the only thing audible, sending shivers down their spines. “Harvest might be by the stables, I’ll go…”

But Samuel caught her arm before Roberta could sprint to the location. “We are not breaking apart.”

“We should go around carefully and…” Another sound interrupted her, it was a window being broken.

“...Check out what that was.” They ran together to find the source of the sound, hoping that their two companions were safe. It took them to the training grounds, where they saw Xiang and Lancer holding stances like they were about to face each other. Being the first ones they saw, Samuel offered to set them free. “I’ll wake them up.”

It was as simple as lighting a fire near their behinds, making both of them jump in place. “What the hell?! And why is it suddenly night?!” Lancer yelled.

Equally confused, but spotting Samuel to the side, Xiang asked. “What’s going on?”

“Enemy attack. We need to gather up and counterattack.” Before he could get into the details, Roberta called them from the other side of the area.

“I found them!” She yelled at the group, beckoning them to her side. She had found a pair of silhouettes gathering in the distance. Within moments they were face to face with them, freezing the group in place as they realized who one of those silhouettes was. “Berserker…?”

The person standing alongside Berserker was a withered old woman, holding a cane to keep her up. She wasn’t really paying attention to them; she seemed more focused on checking the Servant in front of her eyes. “She’s a Servant alright…” Lancer spoke up, ready to start fighting at any second.

Equally ready for the fight, and lighting up a fire in his hand, Samuel commanded them. “On my signal, I’ll create an opening for Lancer to attack.”

Blasting the woman with his fireball, the first part of their plan was to stagger the Servant, and it would have worked if Samuel’s fire hadn’t been extinguished midway to its target. Gaping at how fast the magecraft had been squelched, Roberta slapped the side of his shoulder seconds after. “Step on it. That’s my Servant there.” Following her command, the pyromancer created an even bigger fireball with the full intention of hitting whatever was in his way.

Only for the thing to disappear, and not even near the enemy Servant. “I’ll take her down!” Lancer jumped to battle, foot first and ready to smack the enemy with her kick. Only to be pushed back by a magic barrier. Landing safely on the ground before punching it a few times. “It’ll take a while to break it down.”

“Roberta, call Berserker to attack.” She and Samuel shared a look. “He is already inside the barrier, whatever he could do to help us right now is better than nothing.”

Yet Roberta faced a problem. Berserker wasn’t listening. In fact, it was odd how Berserker was acting, his eyes focused at the ground, arms swaying to the sides. She wondered if the kid might still be on the effects of her drug or if there could be something else at play. Seeing no other way out of this. “Berserker, by the power of my second Command Seal, attack the enemy Servant with all your strength.”

Surprising the group, Berserker did nothing. In fact, the kid didn’t even look pained at having to fight the command. “That shouldn’t be possible. Even if that barrier cuts off outside noise, it shouldn’t matter to the Command Seal.” Xiang was perplexed at the turn of events.

The bigger surprise came after Roberta inspected her hand. “It didn’t vanish…” The rest of the Masters turned to her. “My command, it didn’t vanish…” From what she could tell, it never took effect.

Before they could think about their next move, the very Earth began shaking, with enough strength to knock them down. This was followed by a torrent of stone spikes bursting from out of the ground and moving towards the group. The Masters were saved in time thanks to Lancer pulling them out of the way at the last moment.

As they got up again, Roberta looked for their enemy. “They are gone!” She was the first one to notice; there was no sight of them. In fact, they had retreated at such speeds, there was no trace of them left behind, and no way to tell where they had gone.

“No, they are not…” Lancer signaled to the skies, where they could see the old Servant flying on some sort of capsule. “She is going to the forest, we have to do something or we’ll miss her.”

“And what if it’s a trap?” Xiang stopped her Servant and brought another point to their situation. “The forest would be an easy place to set an ambush.”

Roberta desperately shook Samuel, as there was no other way around this. “We can’t just sit here…”

In their hour of need, Kaito and his group approached them, having found and awakened Red Harvest and Rider. “What happened here?!” The teenager asked. “Where’s the enemy?”

“Listen here: she took Berserker and is now making a run for it to the forest. We need your Rider to go in pursuit while we come up with a plan.” That way they wouldn’t lose their target while still having time to prepare for a possible ambush.

Red Harvest understood the small amount of time they had and quickly asked his Servant. “Can you see the enemy?”

It would be easy with Lancer’s help. “Yes, they are moving fast but we can still catch up.”

“Alright, go with care and keep me updated. We can’t let them escape with one of our Servants.” The old man ordered his Servant and Rider began running towards the enemy. Whistling to call for his mount, materializing from thin air, Rider wasted no time jumping on top of it.

Xiang turned to Lancer. “You go with him, keep an eye out for enemy reinforcements and don’t let them out of your sight.”

“Leave it to me.” Lancer summoned her armor before jumping high in the air, hitting her heels together in midair to create clouds from her shoes and riding it until she caught up with Rider. “I’ll take the lead while you watch my back!”

Hanging on tight to his mount. “You’re still hurt, go high and be my scout!” They were still talking strategy as they disappeared into the tree line.

Now the Masters had a few minutes to think their situation over. “Alright, grab everything you might need for a fight and we’ll meet in the garage.”

“We are going in pursuit too?” Kaito asked. “What about Evelyn? The enemy still wants her.”

With Evelyn following some of the young pyromancer’s reasoning. “I can’t stay here alone. This might be a diversion to lure us out.”

“She’s right.” Samuel added. “That’s why we are all going so she is protected. We can’t face our enemies incomplete again. Let’s go!” It was a haphazard plan, but in the moment, it was all they had.

***

While the group gathered everything they’d need for a fight, I was getting bored inside the cabin. Archer was still nowhere to be seen and that weird sound from deeper in the cabin had already driven me crazy. It was a loud succession of snores that rumbled through the whole cabin keeping me from getting any kind of rest. It had happened before but today was especially obnoxious.

That extra door in the back started to draw me in. It was just so tempting to try and break in and find what grandma was hiding inside her personal room.

I approached the door to check it out, but apparently Caster hadn’t closed the door entirely before going out. Creaking the door open to get a quick glimpse inside, wanting to make sure it was safe to get in before slowly opening the door.

The room itself was the same size as the front room. There was no chimney nor kitchen, and two beds instead of one. The smell was a problem though, penetrating and burning my nose as I entered, all but unbearable. I took a few steps inside and spotted a dresser alongside some shelves filled with several jars and woven baskets. I thought that might be the reason for such a smell; the jars were full with several spices, dried ingredients, and some things I couldn’t identify, for potion making.

On top of a wooden table rested some instruments to chart the stars, threads, needles, and a lot of bowls and spoons, but what really caught my attention were the knives. All of them were old and made from shoddy craftsmanship, but obviously still sharp. What was more, there were some dried blood spots on the table. That was the point I decided to step out, fearing what I might find if I kept looking around.

Then a loud gasp made me yelp in surprise. My head yanked to the source of the sound. It was the beds, or more like, something resting on one of the beds. Approaching slowly, one foot at the time, the gasping and heavy breathing continued for a while until I reached the bedside.

The outline forming under the covers was clear, there was a person sleeping on that bed. I should have probably left well enough alone and gone back by that point, but I knew rest would elude me if I didn’t investigate. I quickly pulled the covers off and jumped back at the sight it revealed. At first I thought it was a corpse, its face all pale and eyes sunken, and a distinct lack of a nose.

But corpses don’t gasp for air.

Inspecting it’s head was even more chilling. Its eyes were sewn shut, the ears were stuffed with cotton, and the mouth had no teeth. Slipping the bed cover a bit more I could see its arms were cut off to the shoulders and it was so malnourished its rib cage was showing. Every time it took air in it would push the ribs upwards before slowly going back down. It was such a terrifying sight that I now ignored the foul smell that emanated from the bed. The dried ingredients were not the source of it.

Trying to cover my mouth and nose, I let out a small cough. Which made another figure start coughing from the next bed over. So I backed away in fear, not knowing how to react.

My mind was so busy trying to process my situation that I completely missed Caster coming inside the cabin. Only when she was standing at the door frame and looking right at me did our eyes cross. “What are you doing here?” The coldness of her tone froze me in place.

It took me a few seconds to recover my breath and voice so I could speak. “W-What is this…?”

Grandma caught on to all the coughing the other creature on the bed was making. She made her way to its side and pulled a jar out from under the bed. “That one…” Pointing at the one I uncovered. “He is my Master…” She took the bandages off of her right arm, revealing a pale and wrinkled looking arm with three command seals on the back of its hand. “These are my Command Seals, I took them after leaving him like that. He did not deserve them.” I could see the stitches around her arm, just before the elbow, making me cringe at the sight and Caster’s methods. From out of the jar, she pulled a big spoon filled with water, giving some to the coughing figure. “This one here...You already know him.”

Caster lifted the man’s head and she was right. It was the man that attacked me after I separated from the convoy. His face wasn’t all dried up and wrinkled like Caster’s Master but he had gone through the same treatment. “Why…? Why do this to them?”

Grandma let the man down, tucking him in before speaking to me. “Child, they would have died out in this world. The way you left him, he would have been devoured by wolves. I merely saved him and my Master from the horrors of the world.”

“And you took their arms?!” I was entirely incredulous.

With an angry expression on her face, Caster began approaching me. “I took their eyesight, their hearing, their noses, all their teeth, tongues…” Slowly looming over me, not even blinking. “Arms, legs, hair, blood, mana, and some organs. Because they are weak and wouldn’t have made it. I can make better use of them.”

My legs finally responded to my brain and I ran like hell out of that room, fully intending to leave that cabin behind and find Archer as soon as possible. Problem was, I crashed into something, or someone. “Who are you?” He was a small kid around my age, his hair fully white and dressed in black. A pair of long knives were strapped to his hips and his death eyes looked right at me without emotion.

I tried backing up but my path was cut by Caster, now I was trapped between the two of them. “He is like you, he wants a family, a mother…And in exchange for that he will follow me.” Caster then hit the cabin’s floor with her walking stick, making the whole place rumble and then move up. “We have to get out of here. Don’t let her out of your sight.” She commanded the boy as the whole cabin began moving.

“Wait…!” Before I could even run past the boy, Caster grabbed me by my shoulders and threw me backwards into the back room. The white haired boy followed me inside and closed the door behind him. Even more panicked than before, I pleaded “What about Archer?!” I began hitting the door trying to break it down and tears streamed down my face. “Archer!” I was all alone again, and I couldn’t take it. “ARCHER!!!” He had promised me to protect me. 

Where was he?

*

In the middle of the woods, unmoving and with both eyes closed, Archer seemed to react to a loud sound ringing in his ears. Like he had awoken from a deep sleep, the Servant blinked a few times in confusion. Not only was it night all of the sudden, but his surroundings didn’t match what he had seen just a few seconds ago. “Miss?”


	10. Vox Archer

That same morning, before the attack on the manor, Vox Archer received orders to look around the forest; they were trying to pinpoint my exact location so they could retrieve the Grail. The only problem, for Archer at least, was that he didn’t really feel like doing this while sober, and once he was a bit tipsy, he was likely to just… forget. Unfortunately for him, there was a bit of an obstacle in the form of an underpaid cashier.

“Ok…” The Servant rubbed his temples in annoyance. “Mind runnin’ that by me again?”

The cashier, a young, tan-skinned man answered. “I’m going to need your I.D. to authorize your purchase.”

This posed a problem for the Servant, who had no such thing, and with his current clean-shaven appearance, looked rather underage. “I…forgot it in my other jacket. Look, I can pay for it.” He showed the young man a relatively thick stack of bills that had been given to him for emergencies.

The poor man tried to calm this customer down. “I’m sorry, sir. The machine won’t even let me complete the transaction without the I.D.”

What a way to ruin his day, he thought, and so early, too. “A’ight, listen, I know it’s not your fault and that you’re only doing your job. But…” Archer took a step back and nonchalantly pulled out one of his guns. “I’m gonna have to rob you.”

Scared and putting his arms up, the clerk found it extremely unlucky that he was already dealing with a robbery. “C’mon man, it’s my first week!”

Archer looked more annoyed than excited as he let the money drop on top of the counter. “I git it, boy, but I need these. Oh, and pass the small bottle of whiskey.” The clerk turned around and put the liquor flask on top of the counter, Archer tucking it into his jacket for later. “Great, now, bag the beer and back away from the counter.” The man did as he was told again before the Servant used his free hand to pick up his ‘purchases’. Walking backwards to the door, never taking his eyes away from the clerk, he finally vanished from the area with one strong leap, wanting to leave the crime scene as fast as possible.

After that quick pit stop, Archer made his way deeper into the forest to enjoy some time alone. His orders were to sweep the forest and locate the Grail, while some other groups investigated other parts of the area.

This plan had one major fault: they entrusted this to their Archer with no other kind of escort. The Servant was more than happy to blow off his assignment and get drunk in peace. Finding a good enough clearing, he laid down and popped open a beer.

It was only a matter of luck that I wandered into his resting place that morning, our little talk waking him up from his midday nap. Despite his supposed loyalties, he did offer me both directions to his allies and his enemies. He found himself curious about the little girl carrying the Grail and followed me, carefully tracing my steps back to grandma’s cabin and materializing on the tree branches.

“You must have bad luck to run into me twice.” He sat down on that branch and remained observant of any kind of movement that might happen. Catching Caster as she was going out to run her errand, he was especially careful not to move a single muscle and alert the old Servant.

Caster eventually walked out of his sight, and he released his anxiety. He stood on that branch and dusted off his jacket before leaving. “Not like I’m gonna tell baldy and the Miss where you are, anyway.” With that decided, he turned around to march away.

Only for grandma to grab him by the throat, getting in his face and screaming bloody murder. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?!?!?”

More than confusing, this was terrifying. Not only had he been taken by surprise but his surroundings had changed. Everything was spinning and shaking out of control, the witch’s words echoing inside his mind, and the figure of the forest around them quickly fading to black.

Still, after a few seconds he regained control of his mind, closing his eyes to focus and reaching for the guns. He took aim in front of him ready to take the shot, but his eyes opened to find that he was alone on that tree. Without enough time to react, Archer’s foot slipped and he took a fall from the branch.

Thankfully Archer was a spry individual, so he was able to land feet first. He then immediately jumped up for the expected follow up, but it never came. His eyes flew over the trees and moving branches as if an enemy could be hidden between them. Only after a solid minute of him staying alert did he feel safe enough to lower the guns, not fully convinced that the enemy wasn’t there but knowing he would have likely been attacked by now if that wasn’t the case.

He was still close to the cabin, a bit further away than he was when he was attacked. That, and the sun had changed position. “When did it get so late?” How long had he been out of it? Who was she, really? Whoever she was, she could not be underestimated.

He had been alerted by his faction of the rogue Servant that was looking for the Grail, but never had the idea of her already having it crossed his mind. While it threw a wrench in his group’s plan, it also directly disrupted his own plan. It was one thing having the Grail fall into the hands of a human like the ones he was teamed up with, but it was entirely another falling into the hands of a crazed Servant.

He chuckled to himself. “This is the kind of predicament that necessitates the help from my peers, even if I wish otherwise.”

The trip back to his camp was a fast one, even for a Servant, making sure to land a few meters away from it to check on his appearance, removing any sign of his past struggle. Finally strolling into the encampment like he owned the place, he tipped his hat at the foot soldiers he came across while making way to the infirmary.

Once inside, he made a beeline towards one of the Masters. “Hey, Denis.” They had brought the man to the camp in the middle of the night, and apparently he had been in such bad shape it kept the medics busy all night. “Heard you got your ass kicked by a girl. How you feeling?”

The Master’s face was full of cuts and bruises, like a boxer freshly out of a lost fight. Only his right eye could be opened enough for him to take a look at the Servant talking to him. “Do you have anything to report, Archer?” Rising from his bed in order to speak directly to him. “Did you find anything?”

After giving him a quick once over, Archer winced. The Master had one of his arms in a sling while the other was bandaged, but he still seemed able to move it. “I didn’t find the Grail, if that’s what you’re asking. But I did cross paths with ‘our’ Caster.”

The wounds were such that there was hardly a reaction in his face. “Where?”

Refusing to humor that creepy tone, Archer explained casually. “Out in the forest, you know? I don’t recall exactly where; one could get lost with all those trees.” He hadn’t thought much about this. He was trying to warn them about the rogue Servant moving so close to their area but didn’t want them to wind up with the Grail. “And she flew away before I even got the chance to fire. She’s probably moving her hideout somewhere safer as we speak.”

“What about the Grail? You think she might have come into contact with it?” It was always to the point with him.

Still cracking that smile, and working even harder to keep it, Archer continued. “I’m pretty sure we would know if that was the case. But, hey. If she is here too maybe we are on the right track. If we can extend our searching area, I’m sure we will find it in no time.” Pondering over his options, the Master looked to the side of his bed. Tucked away into the corner was a metal briefcase with a combination lock. Archer quickly spotted it too. “Yeah, I brought it here from our previous base, like you asked.”

Without even a thank you, he took the case. “Gather whatever you need and keep looking. We have to find the Grail as soon as possible.” The man stood up and made his way out of the infirmary tent. It was his upper body that was injured, and with the help of painkillers, he was able to walk without issue. “I’ll dispatch groups with Saber, Rider, and Lancer, so you won’t be the only Servant running around for much longer.”

Archer walked behind him, looking worried. “Listen, Denis. I think we could be using our resources a little better.”

Stopping in his tracks and turning around to meet the Servant, with the most serious expression he could muster at the time. “His Grace made it our top priority to…”

He cut him off. “Yeah, I know that; I was there when he said it. But those were different times, different circumstances. The enemy has the number advantage and already won thrice against us. No, wait, your little ambush against their Lancer didn’t work either. So, yeah! We have lost every battle so far in this war. If we don’t step up our game it’ll be over for us.”

Dismissing him without a second thought, Denis shouted. “Enough! I won’t stay here and listen to your empty words. The Grail would be a powerful bargaining tool and it would put us in the advantage.”

Archer was not willing to drop it just like that. “Yes, but the enemy has more of a chance of taking it from us. We won’t be holding the prize over their heads, we would be saving them the trouble of finding it.”

Ready to blow up at the Servant for daring to speak up to him like that, standing taller than Archer with ease, Denis raised his finger and prepared his words. Only to be cut off by another voice coming from behind them. “What’s going on here?”

It was Maeve, having heard their screams from inside the tent she just exited. Both men looked at her and tried calming down. “Oh, nothing, Miss Maeve, we are just…conversing.”

It sounded like a lot more than that, she thought. “Well, the two of you’ll get us caught screaming like that.” She could see in their faces that there was a score to settle. “If what you have to say is so important, we can discuss it in the Command Tent.” She opened the curtains, inviting them in so they could continue in privacy. Reluctantly, the men followed her inside, each hoping for this new mediator to break the tie.

Aside from the three of them, the Command Tent was devoid of people. There were a few seats around a wooden table in the center of the room. The table had a map of the area spread out, with a few places of interest marked all around the forest area. To the side were some boxes and communication equipment. Aside from that, the place was lit by candles; no electric appliances could be seen inside. It was a simple meeting room of the sorts, and right now the Masters and Servant stood inside to discuss further options.

“Miss, help me get some sense into his beaten skull. We need to go after the enemy, not wander the woods like idiots.” She must be boiling for a rematch against them, or at least, Archer was betting on this.

“We must bide our time, win the Grail race against the enemy.” Denis kept pushing his case. “His Grace has already told us, promised us, that with the Grail in his hands the fight will be as good as won.”

Sensing another argument about to erupt between them, Maeve placed her sword on the table, letting it drop as to get their attention with the noise. “I’ll have to agree…With both of you. We need to look for the Grail, and that can be accomplished by going after the enemy.”

Both Denis and Archer realized what she was talking about easily. “The Robicheaux girl…” The older Master spoke up.

Archer was the first to have a problem with it. “I already told you. When I checked on her back in Mexico I felt nothing. She is not carrying the Grail.”

It was an idea they have been carrying since their fight across the border. “Yet, you still can’t sense it in these woods, either.” The Masters were mostly convinced this was true. Maeve fixed her hair and explained. “The Association felt cornered after our attack in Japan. It’s only logical that they’d want to throw us for a loop, and have a decoy.”

With Denis already getting comfortable in one of the chairs as they spoke. “The Grail needs a living being to carry it, one with magic circuits to keep it beating and alive. But the Association would never entrust it to an outsider.” Outsiders, like most of Samuel’s mercenary group. “So, they picked the Robicheaux girl to carry it, even giving her the strongest Servant to protect it, and made the change in Mexico.”

Granted, there were some variables in that theory, but everything else fell so neatly into place once you thought about it. “It may sound crazy, but I’m convinced of their trickery. Which, sadly, puts us in an even worse position, as she is heavily guarded by all those Servants.”

“Well, we got them right in those ambushes, didn’t we?” The attack on the convoy was by far their biggest win and the ambush to Lancer gave them a huge advantage. “It should be easy to set up another one…” An idea was forming inside his head.“ We could use that rogue Caster! Make them walk right into that witch’s home.”

This announcement granted him a sudden turn in mood from Maeve. “Rogue Caster? Are you saying you ran into her?!”

The outburst had Archer by surprise; it wasn’t often that he’d seen the girl angry. “Yeah, she is holed up good in the forest.”

“Where?!” Maeve pushed the map closer to the Servant. “That witch killed a close friend of mine. She can’t be allowed to keep breathing after what she has done. Show me where you saw her!”

This prompted Denis to step in, saving the silent Servant from the girl’s anger. “Remember what I told you: that Servant is not important to our plans. She hasn’t come after us yet so we can take our time dealing with her.” A punctuated stern look shut Maeve up, and the girl bit her lip to contain her anger. “Now, Maeve, you did raise a good point. We’ll have to discuss this further before taking action.” The man turned towards Archer and used his most stern voice. “Alone.”

More than happy to see his plan advancing, Archer threw his hands up in mock defense and backed down. “Alright, alright. Think this through, though. We wouldn’t want to lose more Masters.”

“Salazar and Sebastian had true faith in our mission.” Denis yelled after him. “It wouldn’t hurt you to follow their example.”

Turning back, the Servant answered. “No thanks, I’m trying to keep myself alive. See you later, Miss.” He respectfully tipped his hat before finally leaving the place, his smile crooking into a look of annoyance as he walked away.

He hoped the other side would man up and attack them soon so they could have a clear winner and this farce could be over. However, that seemed like only a far away dream at the moment, especially with how carefully both sides were playing it.

Archer would do anything to not be trapped in this mess, but he still wanted things to end right; that was the only thing keeping him from spilling the beans about the girl he found in the forest. It was something of a soft spot of his, not wanting innocent people to get in the middle, and he had a good idea of what would happen if they ever got their hands on the one carrying the Grail.

While he was immersed in his thoughts, looking down at the ground with a frown in his face, Archer was ambushed by the Saber of his faction. The huge Servant threw his left arm around his shoulder and greeted him with a smile. “Archer! Didn’t know you were back! Tell me, did you find the Grail?”

His grip was so tight Archer could not escape. “I also didn’t know you were here. I’d think I would’ve heard you arrive but whatever…” And the grinning giant caught him mere steps from his Master’s tent, so close was he to eluding any interaction in the camp. “Where were you last night?”

His smile turned into a light frown at the memory. “I was meeting my Master; he had some new orders for me to carry out.” He looked a bit embarrassed. Pulled out of duty the night the attacks happened; such was his luck. “Are you going to make another round in the woods?”

Averting his eyes from Saber’s, Archer tried to deter any ideas he might be forming. “Maybe it’s better that you stay put this time. Everyone got pretty beat up last night.” Too bad no one died, he thought secretly. “They need you here.”

Saber finally let him go, scratching the back of his head with his left hand. “Yes. It is a great boon that no one was lost.” He sighed. “Sometimes I wish my Master could let go of all this secrecy. He calls himself our leader yet leaves everything in the hands of Miss Maeve and the other guy.” To Saber, a leader that avoided the front line commanded no respect. Or so he thought. He knew as well as anybody how dangerous his Master was, and he’d never say such a thing to his face. “What about you, have you run into the enemy-”

“I say we take whatever we can get..” Archer gave the side eye to his Master’s tent, deciding to make haste before getting roped into more questions he’d have to avoid. “I’m on a tight schedule and I still need to check on my Master. I’ll see you later.”

Looking at his comrade with a blank expression. “Alright, don’t let me delay you.” The Servants parted ways.

Then Archer stopped, remembering something he should convey. “That rogue Caster is roaming the forest on her own. We can’t let her move with such freedom, even if we already lost Assassin and Berserker.” He received only a thumbs up from Saber, who was still giving him his back.

The giant savage only focused on fighting and women, with that knowledge it was only a matter of choosing the right words. Yet he also knew that he was the most direct connection with their so called leader, so he took extra precautions around the Servant. The last thing he wanted was to get that man involved. It was scary the way the whole organization followed him so blindly. Someone who inspired such fanaticism warranted a bit of caution.

Archer stopped at the entrance of the tent, meeting two peculiar members of their faction. A pair of nurses and, unlike other members of their group, these ones were not humans. The two women were clearly homunculi, humanoid beings created in a laboratory and possessing magic circuits of their own. The pair of nurses stood guard side by side around the entrance, their blank stares busy looking at the air in front of them. The Servant approached them with a little smirk on his face.

“Jane…” He greeted the one standing to his left side, wearing long white gloves. “Bonnie…” To the one on the right, wearing no gloves. They were otherwise identical. “I take Joseph’s inside, or did he decide to take a walk?”

The nurses took a step to the sides, freeing the entrance for him. “He told us to show you in as soon as you arrive.” Bonnie opened the curtain and Archer walked in without issue.

The private tent was half the size of the command room, with a medical bed to one side, surrounded by monitoring equipment and bottles of medicine. The only light in this tent wasn’t from candles or light bulbs but from a TV hooked to a VCR, resting on top of a glass table. In front of the apparatus a man sat on a medical wheelchair, his back to the entrance, and the Servant that just entered his tent.

Archer took one of the chairs and sat down behind his Master. “Hey, Joseph, the girls carin’ you fine?” The sound from the movie wasn’t so loud to drown out the Servant’s voice so they could hold a conversation in peace. “I wished I had two good looking girls like them with me all day, ain’t you the lucky one?” However, the Master kept silent, never turning from his movie. “Although, you have to stay in the camp surrounded by those assholes and boot lickers. Guess we can’t have all we want.” What little sound came from the man in the wheelchair was his relatively loud, strained breathing.

“What you watchin’ there?” The Servant rose up from his seat, just enough to catch a glimpse of the movie and hear the characters speaking. “Something about The Wild Bunch?” Westerns weren’t really his ‘thing’. Actually, movies and electronics didn’t interest him at all; too advanced. “Oh, yeah, I should tell you. We gotta be careful, I found our Caster, she has her own cabin in the forest, if we are unlucky we might run into her in our base.”

Not that Archer was waiting for an answer. It would be something of a miracle if there was one, but he wasn’t getting any ideas. “It’s way more dangerous than a crazed Servant. She has the Grail and is really keeping it secure…” He wasn’t that worried about being heard from the outside, and his mind was still focused on that little girl he talked with. “Did you know that the Grail is a little kid? She is like eight…or ten. Looks like a smart one. Reminds me of the two dolls outside, but we can’t all be perfect. There's this other Servant, tall guy, kinda like our Saber, dresses in a bear pelt, don’t know why.”

“Maybe I should have taken her to those other guys, at least I know she’d be safe with them.” Really, this was no different than talking to himself, seeing how his Master wouldn’t be answering back any time soon. “But if I did that, I wouldn’t be able to help you, would I?” With something so powerful as a free no limits wish, and the fact that he was in the opposing faction, conflict over that prize was bound to happen.

Archer sat in that dark tent for a while, pondering his options and all the paths he could take from that point onward. Soon, the sound of the TV and his Master’s breathing was tuned out, leaving him able to focus solely on his thoughts. Feeding his faction false information wasn’t going to be viable much longer; the Grail’s location was bound to be found in the next few days. The only person he cared about was in the middle of a camp surrounded by soldiers and Servants. Everyone else ostensibly on his side was a lunatic. Coming up with a clear and satisfactory solution seemed impossible.

Having had enough meditation for one day, Archer stood up, putting his hand on his Master’s shoulder. “I’m gonna to solve this, Joseph, believe in me.” Before stepping out of the tent, he took a minute to compose himself and spoke with the nurses. “If anyone asks, I’m on my rounds, won’t be back until sundown.”

Now he just needed to find some way to entertain himself. He already warned his higher ups about the danger and aside from going at it himself (knowing full well he couldn’t win against their immediate problem), there was nothing he could do to solve that problem. “Maybe another lap across the forest might do me some good.”

Archer ran his hands on his jacket, making sure he had everything before heading out, and found something extra to lighten up his mood. “Oh! I forgot about you.” Pulling out the small bottle of whiskey he took from the gas station. He was more than happy to start drinking but probably needed to get a few meters away from the camp before he could freely do so.

He prepared to leap away, only to have the Servants from his faction call him out from behind, quickly approaching him to have a word. “Archer, you can’t wander around alone anymore.” Their Lancer spoke to him.

“Our Master told us to search the forest too.” Saber added. These were last minute orders and they had to follow them. “You go with Lancer, take him to that spot where you found the witch. I’ll go with Rider and look around the perimeter.”

With Lancer moving closer to Archer. “We don’t engage though. Our mission is only to identify the target and her base’s location.”

Saber walked away from the conversation now that their orders were clear. “They are already waiting for me, see you two later.” He jogged away towards the checkpoint.

This left Archer and Lancer on their own. Lancer, wanting to waste no time on this task, gestured to his partner. “You lead the way.”

Archer himself was annoyed at the sudden turn of events. They hadn’t even given him time to come up with an excuse or a way out of this predicament. He couldn’t just guide him towards Caster’s cabin knowing full well that the Grail was there, most likely undefended. But he also couldn’t stand there and do nothing. “Alright, let’s go.” He jumped high and deep into the forest, in the same direction he appeared from earlier before as to not raise any suspicions. However, he slowly and cleverly tried to steer into the wrong direction once they were far enough away.

Their Lancer kept a close distance, a blank expression always on his face. Obviously, losing him wasn’t an option, so Archer decided to work his hardest to take him on a wild goose chase, going so far as to keep running in circles, giving him time enough just to sell the next big lie he had cooking for his companion. Both Servants stopped in a small clearing and Archer looked around, confused. “Now this is weird…”

It was apparently working on Lancer. “What do you mean?” They have been moving all around the area following his lead. To his eyes, Archer looked like he knew where he was going during all of it. Yet now he was lost?

Archer knelt down to take a better look at the ground beneath them. “I could swear that Witch’s cabin was here this morning.”

Looking all around for any kind of clue, Lancer began turning over stones and kicking up some dirt. “There’s no sign that she was ever here, or where she might have gone.” He was rather perceptive, Archer thought. Not surprising; he had to for this mission. “What can you tell me about that Servant?”

Still looking at the ground and away from Lancer. “She was…scary. Our Masters say she is crazy and dangerous, but I saw only fury in her eyes. Eyes full of anger and resentment, nothing like a crazed psychopath.” It was obvious she knew what she was doing and had a plan, something Archer had no intention of being involved in. “She isn’t here though. Maybe she had other plans to work on. Maybe she found our camp and we should haul ass back before she attacks.”

He was saying whatever he could to cut this expedition short, but that wasn’t about to work on Lancer. There was something about the area that still felt off to him. Not about the forest; it wasn’t the trees, animals, or the dirt that felt off. It was as if something else roamed around the woods. He prepared his weapon, grabbing his spear closer to the tip and pointing it downwards. “There’s someone nearby.”

Archer, too focused on selling his act, had missed on all the little signs. It was his companion’s words that clued him in to that fact. “Yes, it feels like a…” He slowly stood up and reached for his guns.

They locked eyes between them, “A Servant…” quickly readying their weapons and fighting stance. It wasn’t that far away from their position, and whoever was there wasn’t moving. A few brief hand signals and the Servants were coordinated enough to move around the forest with care. Lancer up front with his spear pointing forward and Archer behind both guns drawn.

Their short hike was silent and slow. They kept themselves hidden and kept their eyes open in case of a surprise attack. It wasn’t till they found some blood splatters and tracks in the mud that their bodies tensed up, not helped by the knowledge that their objective was getting closer. Crossing the bush line with all the intent to engage, they found something unusual as their eyes found the enemy.

It was a huge man dressed in old clothing and a bear skin, an antique rifle on his back. His eyes were closed, like he was sound asleep, and he remained unmoving even as both Servants approached him to take a closer look. Cautiously, weapons pointing at the figure in front of them, Lancer spoke up first. “It’s an enemy Servant…But what’s wrong with him?”

Looking rather baffled at this turn of events (Just what were the odds of finding something so important while wandering aimlessly in the woods?), Vox Archer commented. “He is in trance…” He moved dangerously close to the enemy just to prove his theory. Once it was clear that he wasn’t awake, he took a step back and scratched at his chin. “Must be the work of that witch.”

“To think she is so powerful as to enchant one of us…” Lancer got closer and another question popped into his mind. “Why is he still here? And I don’t mean in this part of the forest. Last we knew, his Master was slain. How can he still be alive without a Master?”

It was an interesting question, and Vox Archer was already putting some pieces together as they stood there. “Maybe our Caster got him under her command. Can’t have been much more complicated than  _ this _ .” He gestured to the man’s current situation. 

“That just raises more questions…” Vox Lancer added, lowering his weapon and looking around. “No, if this is the work of that witch, then he was left here so he wouldn’t follow her.”

“Why not just kill him then?” Vox Archer asked as quickly as he thought of it.

Lancer pondered that question as much as he could, and found the only answer. “The Grail…” His companion raised a doubtful look. “He must have been tasked with watching the Grail no matter the cost. Who is to say he hasn’t been doing that since our ambush? He probably joined with Caster, at least temporarily, to keep it safe.” The idea sounded plausible enough that it would be foolish not to assume it true. “Nonetheless, if Caster left him here, she must be long gone.”

Now it was only a matter of deciding what to do with him. Killing the Servant where he stood seemed like a waste considering the connection he might have with the Grail, but leaving without leverage might cost them the only clue they had. “We should go back, tell our Masters about this…”

“And just leave him like that?” Vox Archer pointed at the frozen man.

“There’s nothing we can do, and slaying him like this will leave a bad taste in my mouth.” Lancer fancied himself a noble fighter above all else. “And now that I think about it, you should stay behind and look for Caster.” Better to use their time efficiently while they were out, he thought.

Vox Archer was still inspecting the enemy with fascination. “Alright. Do I wait for you to come back or... how are we going to do this?”

Preparing to head back to the camp, his partner got ready to jump. “Come to us if you find something, but be back before sundown.”

More than willing to comply, Vox Archer put his weapons away and stretched. “Well, better start now, we’ve already lost a lot of time.” Then he disappeared to avoid any further words.

Lancer took a look at his companion disappearing, his eyes shifting towards the enemy, contemplating any other answer to this predicament in the instant before leaping away and disappearing himself. Moments later, Vox Archer made himself visible. “A’ight, let see what really happened here.”

It was a specialty of his to trace the surrounding area; he was able to find any kind of hidden clues or tracks that weren’t visible at first glance. And being the only one there, he had freedom to sweep under the rug or pull out whatever he deemed necessary. It was a complex work, but he managed to recreate what happened in his mind, and was able to make sure nobody else would.

“So, big guy went out to hunt all alone. He crouched down near this tree and took aim at whatever animal he found.” He guessed it must have been a deer or some other big game. Imitating the steps he figured the other Archer took, he continued. “You shot but the prey got spooked and moved just a few seconds before you pulled the trigger, so it wasn’t a clean kill.” That explained the blood splatters around some of the tree trunks; the animal must have limped away. “Obviously, you went after it, but you got distracted after the first few steps.” He stopped right beside the frozen Servant and looked at the trees over them. “Must have been that witch, sweepin’ down.” There was no sign of struggle or traces of combat magic being used. This meant both Servants were familiar enough to have a conversation first. “Can’t tell how much time you spent together but I’m sure she tried to erase her tracks before flying away.”

Archer crouched down and stroked his chin. “Can’t even tell if this is good luck or bad luck.” He stood up and reached for that little bottle of alcohol inside his jacket. Cheerfully opening the bottle and taking a good sip, he thought of something else. “The witch’s cabin is over there. Why is she heading’ in the opposite direction?” He thought hard about what might be over there. “The manor…”

Taking another deep sip of his bottle to help his thought process, he continued to muse aloud. “Is that Servant so crazy as to attack that place by herself? It’s a damn fort!” She was so outnumbered her plan was destined to fail without some serious thinking, and he doubted that a crazed woman could do something like that in her state. He took another quick drink. “Which means…” He suddenly put all the pieces together. “The girl is all alone in that cabin, probably without a clue of where these two are…” Downing that bottle after a few seconds of silence, he was left with a tough choice. “Alright, let’s check on her, make sure a bear hasn’t eaten her or something.” His eyes moving to the other Servant present, and his tunic. “No disrespect; I’m sure he is tame.”

He found her fairly quickly, knowing the cabin’s location well enough to find it while blindfolded. Once the cabin was in sight, Archer braced himself to land near its entrance but bounced off something at the last second, falling hard and painfully. “What the hell?” He scrambled up onto his knees and reached out to touch the barrier surrounding the cabin. So he couldn’t just walk in and take the Grail out. He could, however, get the high ground and keep an eye out.

Time passed, Archer sitting still on that branch and watching over the cabin like a hawk. The Grail was out of his reach, her only protectors were comatose or away, the enemy faction was about to be attacked, and he had a good idea what his faction was planning. Also, if by any chance he were to break down that barrier and take the little girl out of there he would have no idea what to do with her. Top it all off with the fact that his Master was still in such a vulnerable position and could not be removed. He couldn’t move forward and he couldn’t back down; Archer was simply trapped in his current position.

The Servant rubbed his face in frustration, holding back screams of anger while still maintaining his balance on that branch. The most pressing thing was he knew he couldn’t stall for more time. The moment to go back was approaching, and he had to think of a good excuse for his companions. Silently raging and his mind running blank, the Servant silently made his way back to his own camp. He would miss his sundown curfew but he didn’t care.

As the light totally vanished, he damned his own fate. To be summoned in the middle of such a mess with no say on the matter and so many responsibilities was a worse curse than any he had faced in life. What was the worst thing that had happened to him before this? Running from the law? Being shot at a card table? He’d driven stagecoaches through dangerous territory, spied for the Union and even been a part time actor, and none of those things were as complicated or dangerous as the pile of nonsense he was involved in now. 

He was so submerged in his thoughts he ended up striding faster towards his destination without even realizing. In his frustration, the Servant was only brought out of the dark by dim lights of the encampment.

Hiding his bad mood as best as possible and moving directly towards his Master’s tent, Archer kept his sight low and used his hat to cover his face, perfectly avoiding any annoyance and interference from the foot soldiers. He was starting to feel confident, but his luck was about to run out as Archer ended up bumping into someone as he rounded a corner; feeling like he just hit a brick wall. He regained his composure and looked up. “Oh, hey, Saber. You find anything?”

With a big smile on his face, the man clasped his companions shoulders. “As a matter of fact, yes! We are going to the command tent to discuss everything right now.”

Good news. Now he knew what place to avoid for the next hour or so. “That’s great, don’t let me keep you though. I’m just going to stay with my Master and…” He tried walking around Saber, only to be stopped by the Servant.

“Actually, this is an ‘all hands on deck’ kind of situation.” He put his arm in front of Archer, blocking his way forward. “Your Master will be with us in a short while.” Archer found this behavior strange, coming from their Saber. Not only was his tone of voice sterner, but he had even adopted an intimidating stature. It was nothing like the playful mannerisms from earlier that day.

The Servants locked eyes, Saber trying his hardest to keep that fake smile on and Archer with disbelief in his face. Neither of them were about to back down from their objectives. Before any of them could say anything another voice could be heard from behind. “The meeting is not optional.” Archer turned around and was met face to face with Lancer, unarmed but looking even more serious than Saber. “Let’s go.”

Archer looked at the Servants trapping him and let out a small chuckle. “You two think you’re on top of everything, don’t you? Well, and I never thought I’ll have to remind you of this, but I’m a Servant too. I don’t have to answer to religious nuts, tail chaser idiots, or numbskull robots that only follow orders.” He made his way towards the only opening and began walking out of the conversation. “I’ll talk with my Master and then I’ll see if we can’t join your little get together.” He walked directly to his Master’s tent, not finding the nurses that usually keep watch outside, and was about to enter before his path got cut off by Rider.

The headless Servant walked briskly out of the tent, and Archer moved back in fear of being run down, stopped only after his back clashed with the other two Servants. Now trapped and still surprised at the turn of events, all Archer could do was stay silent while Lancer still tried to keep things civil. “Before you ask, your Master is safe. But you need to come with us now.”

Knowing he was outnumbered and outmatched, Archer relented and marched with the rest of them, surrounded on all sides the whole way. They didn’t let him go until they were inside the command tent, where Rider and Saber stood by the door and Lancer took place beside the Masters around the table. Both Maeve and Dennis straightened up and stared at their Archer as he entered the tent. “Alright, I’m here. What do y’all want with me?”

Despite his callousness, there was truth to his words earlier that day. The Vox Nihili had lost every single one of their battles so far, even the ones they had started. Though they didn’t want to admit it, they had been backed to a corner. At this point they were desperate enough to grab onto whatever life line they could find.

Ever one to make this blunt, “We know you have been lying to us.” Denis answered. “You know where the Grail is and have kept that information to yourself.”

Archer, trying to feign ignorance and keep his emotions in check, let out a short chuckle. “No one wants out of this mess here more’n me. Why would I want to drag this out more than it already is?”

The Masters present shared a look in silence, knowing well enough this Servant wouldn’t buckle under peer pressure. It was Maeve that extended a friendly resolution. “This is a map of the entire forest; we know the Grail is in it. The only thing you need to do is show us where.” The offer was, basically: do the right thing and everything is forgiven. “You don’t need to do anything else; just mark it on the map and we’ll do the rest.”

But Archer’s will remained strong, his looks of determination saying more than enough to the whole room. “Yeah, I know I won’t have to do anything. We have all the kids outside to do our dirty work.”

Letting out a small sigh, Denis took the initiative. “We don’t have time for this. Either you give us the information willingly or we take it from you. It’s your choice.”

“And I’m telling you, there’s nothing to say. You two’re so paranoid about our losses, so delusional about this war, that you’re starting to see enemies within your own ranks.” He gave the two Masters a good look before glancing behind him to the other two Servants in the room. “Besides, how do you expect to make me talk? The only person that has some control over me is my Master.”

After he said that, as if he summoned the man, his Master’s nurses wheeled him in. Archer’s Master was paraplegic, obviously wheelchair bound, dressed in a hospital gown and with an overgrown beard. What struck Archer the first time they met, though, was that despite the way he looked, he wasn’t an old man. In fact, this one was closer to his own age, a young man that could barely be considered an adult. Yet, he was trapped in that wheelchair for the rest of his life, unable to even speak. But he still carried his own, unused, command spells, so he was recognized as a legitimate Master. “Joseph…” Archer spoke up in surprise.

Denis himself explained the man’s presence there. “Luckily, your Master is sounder than you are. He is more than happy following our leader’s vision.”

Surprisingly, Archer spoke to the pair of nurses beside his Master. “So, you eavesdropped on our conversation, why am I not surprised?!” They were the only ones that could point the finger on him after all. “I know good Joseph wouldn’t say anything, or make me say anything. You’re wasting your time.”

Maeve and Denis could only look at the Servant, so full of himself, with mild disdain. “This is your last chance before we hand matters over to your Master.” The girl said with a stern tone of voice.

Archer still clung to his act. “I already told you, I know nothing about the Grail. If I did, I’d tell you.”

With the Servant’s resilience over the matter clear, one of the nurses, Bonnie, closed her eyes , then opened them again after a few seconds. Her eyes had changed from the typical red to a sky blue but her expression was as blank as ever. “Listen to them, Archer…” The feminine voice caught Archer by surprise, especially with how informally she was addressing him.

“Did you think we’d give young Joseph a Servant if he had no way of using his commands?” The bald Master explained. “He can speak through the mouth of one willing to lend its voice. That alone is enough for a command spell to work.”

Hanging on to a small speck of hope, the only thing that kept him from desperation, Archer spoke to his Master directly. Not to the homunculus speaking for him, but to the young man in the wheelchair. “But I know Joseph; he isn’t like the rest of you.” Even the rest of the group must know this, or else why would they push him to the sidelines every time they discussed matters of importance. “I know he isn’t fooled by the choir, he can’t be.” But his pleas were met by silence, putting Archer’s nerves on the edge. “…They did this to you, Joseph, you can’t honestly be willing to follow them after that.”

“Archer…” The nurse spoke up once more. “Pinpoint the location of the Grail in the map…” The command spell disappearing from the man’s hand.

The Servant could fight the magic and drive that compelled him to act against his will all he wanted, and he did so, but he wasn’t a man familiar in the magic arts nor one of grand power, even for a Servant. Struggling against the voice screaming inside his head, trying to burst out of his head like a bullet he was keeping inside by sheer force of will. Gritting his teeth and almost biting his tongue, his whole body went rigid and convulsed, almost stumbling onto the table. The pressure got him to the point that he could only think of one way to keep silent, pulling out one of his guns and aiming it right at his head.

Lancer and Saber jumped forward to try and restrained him, each of them grabbing him by an arm and pinning him to the table. “Archer, just tell us where it is!” Saber chimed in.

And Lacer followed. “There’s no point in you dying here either. Just relent before it’s too late.” The Servant placed Archer’s hand on top of the map, giving him enough freedom to move it around.

Archer couldn’t hold it back anymore, he had a clear view of the clearing that cabin rested on with the small girl taking refuge inside. Closing his eyes, he finally released, stretching one finger over the place. The Masters gathered around the point to take a better look and get the exact position, the feeling inside Archer’s head fading away just as fast as it overcame his head. He promptly stopped with the struggle and the Servants let him go, letting him fall to the ground to catch his breath.

“Tell your soldiers to prepare; we are moving as soon as possible.” Denis commanded Maeve and the girl left the tent alongside Archer’s Master and his nurses.

But Archer wasn’t about to drop this just because they already had what they wanted. Once he recovered enough energy and breath, the Servant rushed outside and caught the nurses leaving. Tackling the nurse that issued the command to the nearest wall and putting his gun to her chin. “You think you can rat on me and get away with it!?”

Luckily, for the nurse, Lancer also rushed out to stop the angered Servant. Tossing Archer off of the homunculus girl and onto the ground. “You’re free to go. Care for the ill man.”

Picking himself up, Archer snarled. “This is between my Master and me, don’t get between us!”

Lancer tried to block him. “And what are you going to do? Kill him? Kill the nurses too? Might as well sign your own death warrant.”

Honestly, in that moment, Archer felt angry enough to do so, but his companion helped him tone the anger down. “Be honest with me, do you really believe in all of this?” As the days passed, Archer was feeling more and more like the only sane man in this whole place. “War, risking all those lives, that little girl? Is it all worth it just for whatever idea that man has drilled into your head?”

But Lancer knew what he was really saying. “I know that what I want isn’t possible without sacrifices, I’ll admit to that. But why can’t you have faith? You must know how wrong this world is and how badly it needs…”

Archer interrupted him with a loud splutter. “Sermons don’t work on me. Yeah, the world is not perfect but it could be a hell of a lot worse.”

“What about your Master?” Lancer threw back. “He hangs in there hoping for our victory. It was him that came clean over your betrayal. It’s thanks to him that we decided on a nonviolent approach.”

Archer kept silent for a couple of seconds, with no kind of response against that. He could have sworn that if anyone ought to hate the leader of this faction it would be his own Master. Maybe wanting to believe in it that much clouded his mind a little. “What about that little girl?” Lancer flinched at the repetition of that question. “You know as well as I what’s going to happen to her if  _ they _ get their hands on her.”

Lancer took a moment to answer, taking in a deep breath before speaking. “You have my word that whatever happens she’ll suffer no pain…”

The only thing Archer could do then was to stare at him in disbelief. Looking around the encampment he noticed all the stares on them. Having had enough of it all, without saying anything else, the Servant turned around and began walking away, in no specific direction. “Where are you going?” Lancer called out after him but the man didn’t stop. “You are to remain in the camp until we have the Grail in our hands!” Archer kept up his pace, looking dead ahead of him and with no doubts in his mind.

Trying to stop him before he reached the woods, Lancer ran behind Archer, but the Servant disappeared in front of his eyes before he could even react. Before Lancer went on pursuit, having already a good idea where he was going, Denis ordered. “Take Rider and Saber, whatever he might be thinking, we can’t let him ruin our plans.”

Even though hunting down their companion left a bad taste in their mouths, Saber and Lancer had no other choice. Talking to their Archer had already proven futile and everyone involved was too stubborn to make any compromises. The journey towards the wooden cabin was filled with contemplation, trying to adjust mentally to the nearing battle. It would be tricky if they had to fight Archer along with the rogue Servant keeping the Grail. Their silent streak through the forest led them to their final destination: that mysterious cabin resting in the middle of the woods. Their Archer stood nearby overlooking the area by himself.

Lancer put up a hand to stop his companions, wanting to speak first. “What’s happening?” he asked, Archer looking cautious as he hid behind the bushes and trees. He didn’t seem surprised at finding the rest of his group appearing behind him.

Straightening himself, but not facing away from the cabin, he explained. “That witch is back. I have to plan this right if I want to take the girl out.” Strangely, there was no sign of the frozen Servant they had found before.

“And just what are you planning to do after you rescue her?” That was assuming he managed to do so in the first place. “Take her to the Association?”

Archer continued avoiding their gaze and keeping his eyes forward and on the target. “Anything else is better than what you’re going to do.” Finally turning around once he deemed it safe enough. “I’m guessing your Masters are close behind. What about yours, Saber?”

The Servant took a step closer before answering. “That man has better things to do. This job does not warrant his attention.”

Archer clicking his tongue at that answer. “That’s the thing, isn’t it? We are just toys for that guy to play with. Pitting us against each other just to accomplish his goals.” His anger showed clearly on his face. “Why can’t any of you see it? Why are you all falling in line so easily?”

Saber threw his arms to the air. “Honestly, I don’t care one way or the other. If it was up to me, we’d be fighting against the enemy right now instead of arguing over a little girl.” Yet, he left one thing clear. “However, I will not let you do as you please and ruin our chances of a good fight.”

“And I guess you’re just happy to be here.” He spoke to Rider and received no answer from the headless Servant. “I’m not letting you go on with whatever you have planned for that girl. That’s my last warning.” He reached for his guns with a sharp gaze on his face.

“Don’t do this…” Lancer pleaded, keeping his hands open, trying desperately to keep the peace.

With a cold tone on his voice, Archer responded. “It’s better than doing nothing.” And the standoff was on, all Servants taking battle positions and waiting for the other to make the first move. Archer knew quite well how thin his chances were against three other Servants. He tried to calculate his next move as carefully as possible. Lancer meanwhile hung up the hope of making this a short encounter with no casualties, more than ready to go all out if the need arose.

All of them stood on edge and the tension rose between the combatants, time moving ever slower as they put all their attention to the other’s limbs, ready to react the moment they saw movement. Even if it was the lightest flick.

But the thing that broke that pent up tension and caught the attention of all of them came not from the Servants but the ground they stood on. It was as if the whole forest started to shake at the same time. They all immediately turned to the assumed source of these tremors: the cabin in the middle of that clearing.

Soon enough the whole structure rose off of the ground, revealing a pair of bird legs carrying it. Before any of them could react, the cabin began walking away from the scene. Leaving all Servants stupefied for precious seconds before they could react at the strange sight.

All of them rushed in pursuit. Lancer and Saber were the first ones to jump, but before Rider could summon his mount, a huge figure descended upon him. The Archer with the bear skin gave the area a quick look, trying to find that cabin, but surprisingly found the clearing empty. He paid no mind to the extra company around. In fact, he jumped in pursuit without a second thought.

Vox Archer finally snapped back to reality after the other jumped away. Sensing another group closing in on their position, he said under his breath. “Seems everyone got called for this.” Yet, as he was preparing to take flight, he heard grunting coming from his companion who was still kissing the ground. “No, this fight just got too crowded for my taste.”

In a quick flurry of shots, Vox Archer unloaded his pistols on Rider, hoping to leave lasting damage to the headless Servant. Knowing it would need time to recover, the young Servant joined the chase, leaping off into the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It surprised me how short this was.
> 
> Hope you enjoy it!


	11. Battle in the Forest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you sticked to this story for this long I thank you :)

Having already recovered from the wounds suffered by both Archers, Vox Rider rose straight up and looked right in the direction the rest of the Servants had run off. He didn’t need any input from his Master; his objective was clear, forever resonating inside his very soul: Get the Grail. And that’s what he was going to do.

Only for a pair of shining lights coming from behind to catch his attention. The Servant turned around to meet the front bumper of a car hitting him square in the torso, sending him flying upwards, crashing into a nearby tree and then falling to the ground once again.

Thus the race for the Grail started, with most of the Servants up front, keeping on the running cabin’s heels. It was the Association Masters that had trouble catching up to the vanguard. So far the only pair able to even be considered in the race was Samuel and Roberta riding in Assassin’s car, Samuel stopping in the middle of the forest as he realized what he had just done.

“What was that?” Roberta asked. It was so dark in the forest that she couldn’t see with clarity, even with the car’s high-beams on..

Samuel looked over his shoulder, spotting the Servant rising to his knees as they spoke. “Enemy Servant, give me a second.” Before putting the car in reverse and pressing the accelerator. He was already familiar with that Rider and knew they wouldn’t be able to kill him, but stalling him wasn’t out of the question. The car ran over Vox Rider once again, this time crushing him under its wheels before Samuel had to keep moving forward with the pursuit, running over him a third time for good measure. “Let’s go. We can’t waste anymore time if we want to save your kid.”

***

Closer to the cabin, Vox Archer was doing his best to keep up with the rest of the group, but he could only move so fast while maneuvering around the forest and the trees. This was not helped by the fact that all the other Servants had an advantage over him, having jumped to action before he could. He could barely see the Servant with the bear skin in front of him as it was.

Soon enough, another Servant caught up to him from behind, riding across the forest on top of a brown horse. But Rider wasn’t the only one of the Association’s Servants on the battlefield at the time. Lancer passed them at top speed, soaring the skies overlooking the forest and waiting for her time to strike.

She had already locked onto the walking cabin but it was taking longer to catch up to the Servants running behind it. She needed to make a decision soon; she could use her strength to try and stop the wooden cabin, at which time she could deduce whether the Grail and Berserker were being kept; or attack the enemy she was sure were a threat.

Thinking on her feet, she threw her staff at the enemy Saber and Lancer. The rod spun around in the air until it reached directly between the two Servants, with an end pointing at each of them. It was only a split second where all three of those elements synch perfectly. That’s when Lancer extended her weapon, knocking Vox Lancer and Saber in midair.

Not giving them the time to react, Lancer hit the ground, recovered her weapon, and went directly to the weaker of the two. Vox Lancer was able to lock weapons with her only at the last second, keeping her from moving. It was frustrating; this was the last thing she wanted to do when time was of the essence. They traded some blows until Vox Saber recovered enough to help his companion. But instead of ambushing Lancer from behind, the girl Servant was able to catch him as he was approaching her and attack by extending her staff from both ends hitting Saber on the stomach at the same time she pinned Vox Lancer to the tree behind him.

She had managed to stop the pursuing Servants but just one peek over her shoulder and she could see how far away the cabin had gone. Going back in pursuit was out of the question; she was the only one holding the enemy at bay. With Rider nowhere to be seen, it seemed like she’d have to think of a new plan right then and there.

That’s when another figure came jumping over them, traveling by the trees above them. It caught all three of them by surprise as it made a beeline towards the moving cabin. Only with the help of the moonlight could they distinguish the figure as a man wielding different weapons and a long cloak. It was obvious he was another Servant, though they were not so sure about which side it was on.

Still, with another player on the field, completely ignoring the battle he just passed, Lancer’s hopes were high. The whole scene gave her an extra moment to react while they were all busy processing the new challenger. Using her speed and strength, Lancer spun the staff in circles. The movement cut all the trees around the area while at the same time throwing her enemies to the sides.

By now, Archer had won enough ground to go around the wooden cabin to the front. He didn’t have many options to stop the cabin, but he did have some ideas of how to try to slow it down. Putting some distance between him and the target, Archer hooked up a fiery net between two enormous trees, hoping to cut its path.

However, the cabin didn’t even slow down at the sight of fire. Walking over it like it was nothing, it almost trampled over Archer before Lancer swooped down and saved him. The girl Servant grabbed Archer from the back of his cloak and pulled him out of the cabin’s way while on top of her cloud. She let the new Servant down in a clearing and before he could say anything, asked. “Who are you?”

Archer sat in awe and looked up at his savior. “I’m Archer. My Master is inside that cabin.”

“My name is Lancer and one of my teammates was taken by a witch. I think we have the same target.” In the middle of their talk, the enemy Saber and Lancer jumped down in front of them. “And why are they here?”

Taking a battle stance, Archer rose up. “The witch has the Grail as well.”

“And you’re in our way.” Vox Saber threw in.

“Don’t worry, I’ll just send you flying again.” Stretching her right arm, she prepared another homerun.

Only to be stopped by Archer. “Wait, we can’t let the witch run away…” Although, the moment he caught Lancer’s attention was used by the enemy to attack. Vox Saber swung his sword with enough force to send strong winds out at them and crack the ground beneath them.

With the two of them being pushed back, Vox Lancer closed the distance with a thrust of his spear, only missing Lancer’s face by a few millimeters. Both Lancers traded blows until Vox Saber jumped in, leaving him open for Archer to swing for the head with his ax. The four Servants traded blows as the cabin widened the distance by the second.

This was something Archer couldn’t abide. He had to find a way to keep up with the cabin. When the duo had enough breathing room, Archer grabbed a hold of Lancer from the back of her armor, and began running up a nearby tree. With the enemy behind them, she shouted. “What are you doing?!”

He needed to explain himself and fast. “My magic won’t be enough to stop that cabin, but you and your strength can.” The whole cabin part of the target was covered in a strong magical barrier. “Knock it off of the ground and rescue my Master; don’t even bother with the house, go for the legs.” The only part uncovered by this barrier was the legs. He took notice of this while the whole house ran over his trap. “When you have my Master and your friend you need to get out of here, take them to a safe place, away from that witch.”

After, he threw Lancer with all his force at the direction of their target. Lancer surprised him by holding onto his forearm, taking him along as they jumped to a new tree. “I can’t leave you alone to fight those two!” Against two of the knight classes, and two of their stronger foes, her new comrade was bound to have some problems. Still holding arms, both Servants kept dodging the enemy attacks while trying to argue. “You should go after it while I hold them off.”

But Archer stayed adamant about this. “It’s a matter of speed. I can fight them off, just not the way you might think…” With an exchanged look of trust, they finally had to break up as they went back to locking weapons with the enemy, all four now on top of the tree branches. They all seeked a way to break out of their duels and go back to the main objective.

The idea came to Lancer first, creating some space first to put her plan in motion. With the enemy aligning themselves so perfectly as they did before, without caring who was fighting who in there, she jammed her staff into Vox Saber’s right side before extending it while aiming at Vox Lancer, who was still having issues landing a blow on his opponent. Unlike before, they were ready for her this time, each one of them catching one end of the staff and just being slightly pushed aside while using it and the strongest branches underneath them to keep them from falling. “You’re gonna have to do better than that.” Vox Saber spoke up.

But she didn’t look worried. “Like this?” Lancer called her staff to retract, even smaller than it had been originally. It became so small it was the size of a needle. And with both Servants still holding onto it, the moment the staff got smaller they also were rushed out of their positions and to the middle. They clashed into one another, disorienting them, and Lancer delivered a kick to knock them out of the trees and to the ground. Catching her staff before it fell down with the enemy, she finally said. “Alright, I’ll follow the cabin.”

Archer took a deep breath. “I can hold them off until backup arrives.” They didn’t exchange any more words and Lancer began moving towards the target. It was two against one and the enemy was recovering fast; Archer had no time to think, only to act.

Down on the ground, the enemy duo saw a huge shadow descending upon them. Quickly drawing their weapons, they stabbed at the mysterious figure. Only to find their target wasn’t what they thought it was. The dark shadow surrounded them and didn’t seem to be injured by their attack. As it got closer, it was obvious that it was some sort of cloak. And the moment they realized this, Vox Lancer felt a hard blow land on his head, and Vox Saber felt a slightly softer blow land on his shoulder.

Archer had used his cloak to cover his follow up, a hit with the butt of his rifle, trying to stand on the enemy’s shoulders after it landed. Before they could counterattack, Archer took the cloak and pushed off of them to jump high and get a good shot with his rifle. Shooting at Saber in the chest and landing safely in front of them. He wasn’t about to give them time to recover though. Taking a step into their area, Archer used his axe to disarm Lancer and slammed him towards Saber. Sensing an attack from Saber coming, he dodged the punch and delivered a cut to the enemy’s forehead; nothing too deep but enough to make him bleed over both eyes.

Once again, he stepped back and took another shot, this time aimed towards Lancer. This time, however, the enemy was faster than him and summoned his shield to block the bullet. Following that, he rushed forward and tried to bash Archer with his new shield.

The two Servants then were locked in a power struggle, Archer holding his ground and trying to avoid being pushed back. He realized too late that this was just a tactic to keep him in place. Saber had circled around them to grab Archer from behind by the waist and delivered a suplex to the Servant. With the enemy down, the team tried to deliver the killing blow. Lancer went looking for his spear while Archer and Saber struggled on the ground.

Vox Saber proved himself better at close combat, even if he didn’t necessarily have the upper hand after that last attack. He kept trying to hold the enemy down and Archer worked hard to push him back and grab his own weapons again..

Nonetheless, Saber overpowered his enemy and held him in a headlock. No matter how much Archer struggled he couldn’t free himself; even trying to reach back and poke Saber’s eyes out led him to no success, the grip only tightening around his neck. That’s when he saw Lancer rushing towards him, spear in hand, and nothing in his way.

Archer couldn’t dodge this attack nor block it. Thinking fast, he focused all his attention on the incoming spear, trying to judge its angle and timing. It was a risky gamble but Archer reacted the moment the enemy’s weapon was at arm’s length, catching it by the handle. A few inches deeper and his heart would have been pierced; a few seconds earlier and he would have caught the blade. Still, that didn’t improve his situation; quite the opposite. Archer now had Lancer trying to stab him while Saber held him down. It was only a matter of time until they wore him down.

*

The three Servants were so focused on their struggle that they missed another pair galloping towards them. The mounted Servant ran into the battlefield and collided right into the center of the struggle, sending all Servants involved in different directions.

Rider had to stop and look at all the new faces, his companion strangely missing. He could tell this was a struggle. There must be a reason, meaning one of them must be against his enemy. He got off his horse and approached Archer. “Bear man, have you seen a Servant with a golden tail?”

Still gasping for air, Archer pointed at the direction she flew to. “She…went after the enemy…”

Right there, Vox Archer passed over their position, jumping away without so much as a glance. Which panicked Archer. “We can’t let him get away!”

But Rider had other ideas. “No. You said Lancer is already on her way. Better to let her deal with the enemy alone than to lead more towards her.” Rider helped his companion up and got a better look at his attire and equipment. “You’re a hunter?” Archer nodded and Rider responded tactically. “Alright, we can work something out. We can’t let them get close to us. That’s the most important thing to avoid.”

Yet, Archer couldn’t see the strategy afoot. “What are you suggesting?”

Rider mounted his horse once more. “Follow me, and when you can, jump into the trees. I’ll tell you more once we have some space.” To lure his enemies into a better position, Rider rode his mount into the forest, with Archer running behind before leaping up and to the trees. Vox Saber and Vox Lancer could see that they were running towards the walking cabin, so they rushed to action in order to stop them.

*

Lancer had the target in her sights and was only waiting for a good moment to attack. That moment came when the cabin came through a clearing in the forest. Right past the treeline it had become wholly visible, so she flew down and hit the cabin on its left leg, a good swing that knocked the whole thing to its knees. Everyone inside felt it, and the subsequent blows at the barrier too.

This put Vox Caster on edge, and angered her as well. She rushed inside the backroom, where Berserker held me down and she picked some ingredients, before returning to the kitchen. The fire ignited as soon as she placed her cauldron over the fireplace and it quickly began filling up with clear water.

She had to work fast in order to resume her escape, but it also had to be done right. Placing the ingredients in the boiling water and chanting while she mixed them up. Soon, a green haze began spurting from out of the cauldron and leaking out from the chimney. She gave some time for it to cover outside before picking up one of the burning coals, with no issue, and putting it on the smoke, setting it ablaze.

The thick green mist that had covered the cabin soon exploded into a fireball, taking Lancer by surprise and knocking her down. All the vegetation around the cabin had been incinerated, Caster making sure that nobody else stood in her way. The cabin started to ready itself to continue its march.

However, that explosion was nothing to Lancer, and just as her blow had made Caster angry, that blast back made her equally angry. If she couldn’t break the barriers with many blows, maybe one extremely strong one could. She flew up high in the sky until she could barely see the target, and began to prepare her attack.

The cabin resumed its path along the forest as Caster prepared another spell in her cauldron. It was obvious another attack was coming, so Caster prepared a trap for whoever tried to get close to them, making sure to move from the burnt area to a new one filled with trees.

Lancer wondered if she had been found out, as she watched the place go under the foliage and out of her sight, and in a half panic at losing her chance, she decided to take the shot. The Servant began her descent at top speed with her staff up front and ready to crash through that barrier in one hit. In the moment she breached the treetops, she could see the cabin clearly and unmoving; quite simply, a sitting duck.

She braced for impact… only for all her momentum to start draining. Looking around, she quickly realized she was being held tightly by a bunch of branches and vines coming from the trees all around her. It was as if the forest itself suddenly came to life to stop her. Despite her attempts to break them off as she neared the target, the sheer number of them combined with their surprising strength forced her speed to totally evaporate as her staff finally bounced off the barrier.

With the immediate attacker dealt with, Caster ordered her home to keep moving. Lancer couldn’t free herself from the trap and the branches were quickly encapsulating her into a wooden cocoon. Every time she struggled her restraints just grew stronger; she had to think of a way out before everything closed. In a last attempt to free herself, Lancer let her staff go, the weapon floating centered in front of her, and then stretched it while still pointing at her.

The blow, while still hurtful, was strong enough to push Lancer out of the branches. On the way out she still had to dodge around as the trees still tried to catch her in midair. The cabin, uncaring of her plight, kept going, Lancer too busy trying not to get wrapped up again to continue pursuit. Even after ascending from the trees’ range once again, she still had to watch as the cabin continued further away, while keeping an eye out for any other surprises.

*

While Lancer took things carefully for once, Vox Archer managed to slip past the cursed trees and was now closest to the cabin. He had no idea how to stop Caster’s walking hideout. His stride through the forest had been effective in closing the distance between them, putting the enemy at weapons range, but a number of matters stopped him from attacking: Fear of retaliation, for starters; he just saw firsthand how fast and powerful Caster’s magic was when used on Lancer. Then there was the possibility of hitting the girl trapped inside. And finally, he was honestly just waiting for an opening. With the barrier protecting the whole building he had to time his bullets right.

Maybe what he needed was some help from above. Lancer must be waiting, just like him, for a chance to attack; she was just weary of all the cover that rogue Servant had in that forest. If he could draw the target into the open or somehow stir it to a more open area, Lancer would have a clear shot and he would be able to swoop in once the barrier was down. He had been running around this forest aimlessly for long enough to prepare for a good ambush.

Going on a hunch, Vox Archer caught up with the enemy and aimed his gun from behind cover, shooting a well-placed bullet towards a nearby boulder the cabin was passing through. It was something he had noticed after running behind that thing for a while now: the wooden cabin didn’t move in a straight line but always went for the easier path. No doubt something it had to do thanks to its size, the amount of trees surrounding it, and the varying terrain. So, if that thing thought it was in line of attack, maybe it’d try and get out of the way to avoid further attacks.

His theory proved right and the cabin swayed to its side, changing its direction. Vox Archer repeated this a couple more times, and because his shots never hit the target in any way, Caster never tried to counterattack. It became rather easy to steer the whole cabin into open fields.

*

Far behind, Archer and Rider were being chased by the enemy Lancer and Saber. Both of them being familiar in the wilderness, combined with the extra speed Rider managed to get with his mount, it was easy to keep their distance ahead.

Just when Vox Lancer began wondering where his back up was, he and his companion crossed a particular tree with thick foliage, enough to blind them for a second as they passed through it. Once they came to the other side though, the duo couldn’t see the other Servants anymore; only Rider’s horse with no one guiding it, as if they vanished in the air.

Perplexed, the Servants scanned the surrounding area. The place lent itself well to hiding, especially so in the middle of the night, that catching even the smallest speck of their enemy seemed impossible.

It was such that neither of them saw the enemy attack coming. An arrow flew right at Saber’s back, hitting him on his left shoulder. Vox Lancer reacted quickly and went to check on him. “Your armor took most of it so you should be fine.” Pulling the projectile with minimal effort. Though, with his senses in high alert, Lancer was able to deflect the following attack directed at them with his shield. “That was a bullet…”

The few warning shots gave way to a veritable hailstorm of projectiles as more and more shots were fired at them. “Back to back, quick!” Vox Saber ordered and each Servant turned around to watch the other’s back, holding their shields in front. More often than not they met the bad end of an arrow or were just grazed by a bullet.

What was worse yet was all the attacks were coming from different directions, making them harder to predict. So much heat was coming down on them that Saber and Lancer were forced back until they hit a tree. They crouched down and did their best to hold their shields, hoping at least that this position might give them more of a breather.

Vox Lancer turned to his companion. “Use your Noble Phantasm!”

It was a good idea, but there was a problem. “I need time to charge it and they are not giving me any...” The Servant blocked another arrow and continued. “I could gather up my mana like this but it’ll take me more time and it won’t be as strong.”

After some thought, Lancer explained. “We don’t need to kill them outright, just destroy their cover.” It was as much as he could come up with that amount of pressure on them. “Can you do that?”

Vox Saber went from looking annoyed to smiling. “Of course I can.” These enemy tactics were already on his nerves, and he was getting tired of this forest; he was more than glad to cut it all down. He hoped his companion would be able to protect him, though. No use going to all the trouble of using his ultimate move if they wouldn’t be able to do anything afterwards.

*

By now, Vox Archer had moved the wooden cabin out into the open, and Lancer was readying herself for another strike like the one before. The whole party had made its way to a river with little vegetation around it. Even as Vox Archer had run out of hiding places, he still kept the distance between him and the target short, not wanting to miss his chance the moment that barrier came down. Also, he still had another job to do.

The cabin continued running beside the river with nothing to get in its way. Vox Archer had to stop that thing before Caster could attack like she did before. He aligned himself with Lancer, carefully looking at the Servant girl flying on the sky with her weapon at the ready.

The moment Lancer went on a nose dive at top speed both Servants reacted, Caster preparing to cast her new spell and Archer reaching for his guns. Archer beat Caster on the draw and unloaded both guns on the cabin’s legs. The fleshy parts were his targets and the bullets all hit bulls eye, sending the whole place toppling down.

This took Caster by surprise too; she had grown complacent since the shooting stopped and never gave it a second thought. To add insult to injury, her spell was interrupted and as she regained her footing another huge blow shook the entire place, tipping the cabin completely on its side.

With nothing to stop Lancer this time around, the Servant girl slammed right into the barrier with so much force it shattered on impact. What knocked the bipedal building down was the remaining force of her attack reaching the cabin.

Pleased at himself, Archer wasted no time running towards the crash site, assuming it’d only take him a few seconds to run in and secure the Grail. Or that’s what he thought before he saw Lancer standing up on top of the cabin, her gaze stopping Archer on his tracks.

Not recognizing the new Servant, she raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “Who are you supposed to be?”

Aside from going silent, Vox Archer’s mood completely changed after meeting with Lancer. Surprisingly, the idea of having to fight her never crossed his mind. “I need to get inside that cabin…”

“That’s not what I asked.” Ignoring the obvious difference in power, clearly demonstrated a few seconds ago, Lancer looked more than ready for a real fight. “I’m not letting you near the Grail either.”

“It’s not about that…” He trailed off. Explaining the whole situation might take more time that they had. “The Grail is not what you think it is, you have to let me…” The moment he started walking towards the cabin, Lancer descended from on top of the construction.

“I’m not letting the Grail fall into enemy hands.” Still, she could tell the Servant in front of her was adamant about trading blows. “Whatever may be worrying you about this, you should know that the Grail is better off in our hands.”

“I know that!” He had been more than ready to hand the Grail back to them when all of this started. “But…I can’t do that yet…” After a momentary outburst, he gathered his thoughts. There was a lot more at stake in this matter. “My Master, I need the Grail to heal him…And…” The biggest one that weighed in his mind: he couldn’t leave the poor kid alone with that group, that  _ cult _ , no matter what else had happened. “And I can’t go back without it.” Finding some trace of courage, he tried to stare the enemy Lancer down.

There might have been some trace of honesty in his words that Lancer managed to read between the lines to see. However, the Servant knew better than to believe all of it at face value. “Prove it.” She raised her weapon, pointing right at Archer. “Show me you speak the truth.”

With her looking so serious about this, he pointed at the cabin door. “We don’t have time for this,” was his only complaint.

She didn’t drop her stern expression, nor change her pose. “Then you better decide quickly.” Lancer looked more than ready to attack the moment her enemy did so.

Silence befell the space between them, with only the breeze of the wind daring to make a sound. Realizing confrontation was inevitable, Vox Archer reached for his guns as slowly as possible.

Once he had both hands ready he could only sense the air and prepare himself for the moment to strike. Lancer was already thinking of a way to close the distance between the two of them and win as fast as possible. Her staff could do both easily, but relying on such a predictable move at the time wouldn’t be for the best. Despite the gap in their power, there was something about this Servant; she could see it in his eyes. She shouldn’t underestimate him.

The moment Archer cleared leather and took aim, Lancer had already started her stride forward, making his first shoot miss. The few meters between them became shorter and shorter thanks to Lancer’s speed, yet, Archer stood his ground. His first six bullets all missed; his aim and trigger finger’s speed were top notch but the bullets were an easy dodge while flying.

With his first gun completely empty, Archer took his second revolver and continued on with his attack. His first shot came closer than every other before, scratching the side of her armor as she advanced. He aimed the second and third closer to her face, trying to knock her off balance rather than to kill her, one of them cutting her left cheek as the closer distance made it difficult to dodge. Fourth and fifth were more effective in staggering Lancer after they hit her chest.

By the time the final bullet came, the two were already close enough to trade punches. So Archer had one last chance to win this duel, he had to make that last bullet count. Betting everything on that last second before her fist impacted with him, he chose to counter in that split second his opponent was at its most vulnerable.

Lancer was already foreseeing that movement though and was more than ready to counter back. A good chop to his hand and a loud cracking sound later, the gun fell down from his grip. With the only threat to her dealt with, Lancer got ready for a follow up. And that’s when Archer put his plan in motion. Going into his spiritual form just before Lancer’s fist landed, he made her punch the air in front of her and take her by surprise.

Before the enemy could react, Archer appeared once more, throwing himself to the ground and catching his gun in mid fall. Aiming to Lancer’s face and pulling the trigger the second she looked down.

Finally, his heart could beat again. The Servant took a deep breath and tried to compose himself... only to find out the enemy hadn’t collapsed after that shot to the head. Yes, she staggered a few steps back and some of her blood splattered on him, but Lancer was still standing tall. It was a frightful enough sight to make him lay still, wide-eyed. And Lancer was more than unhappy about that cheap tactic; even more with the bullet she had to catch with her teeth. The right side of her mouth was all messed up thanks to that attack, her lips cut and one or more teeth missing.

The girl Servant spat the bullet out, along with a mouthful of blood, and proceeded with her attack. Kicking Archer with all her strength, sending him soaring backwards all the way back to the tree line they had long gotten out of. Archer himself went through several trees before falling unconscious.

Holding up her face with her right hand, Lancer turned around and met face to face with the wooden cabin she was running after a few minutes earlier. The construction stood on its knees, unable to recover from that combined attack, and was ‘staring’ in Lancer’s direction. Although unmoving, Lancer had a bad feeling about this.

*

Inside, Caster fumed; knowing that staying and fighting was out of the question, she had one last plan to escape. The moment her house straightened itself, she came running into the back room looking for something. I was too disoriented to do much at the time and that Servant kid made sure to stay close to me in case I tried anything out of line. To produce her next spell, Caster needed materials, more powerful than the ones she had on display. To compensate, she found an old hair comb around her things and ordered the kid. “Hold her down.”

The kid grabbed me by the wrists and wouldn’t let go, no matter how hard I tried, and Caster approached me from behind. Rather carelessly, she began brushing my hair with the old comb, making sure to take some of my hair with each stroke. Once she was content with the amount of strands in the comb, she let me go and rushed back to the kitchen.

Here she came face to face with Lancer. The Servants shared a look and Lancer managed to get a glimpse of the two kids in the back room. Seeing her objective clearly, she sprang into action. However, as she pushed past the witch and took a couple steps inside, Lancer started feeling extra heavy; enough that she fell to her knees before taking her third step, and had some difficulties breathing in.

Caster took this time to close the door behind her and moved towards the intruder. Grabbing the back of her hair and pulling it up to speak face to face. “You don’t come to my home like that, wanting to take what’s mine. You have no power inside these walls.”

Even incapacitated like that, Lancer heard the Servant and figured she could turn the tables by shattering the floor they stood on. She let her fist down on the wooden floor with all the force she could muster. However, the moment her fist met its target all the energy she put into it disappeared, and was followed up by a strong force punching her in the back of the head, knocking her back onto her elbows.

“Now you know what’ll happen if you resist.” As Caster spoke, the whole cabin rotated around. “Don’t come back here.” The Servant pressed the hair comb on Lancer’s chest and took a few steps to the side. Rather abruptly, a gust of air coming from inside the room pushed Lancer out, sending her soaring toward the river.

Exhausted after the long night, and still both bleeding and disoriented from previous attacks, Lancer could only watch as the hair comb bounced into the river, that bad feeling in her gut coming back even stronger.

***

By now, Vox Saber had everything prepared for his attack. He no longer needed his companion’s protection; nothing could stop him from unleashing all that accumulated power. The blond Servant rushed forward, ignoring the attacks that were still flying at them, and let it all go in a broad swing.

In one fell swoop, the whole tree line in front of them was annihilated by a burst of magical energy. The shooting and arrows came to a halt as the trees fell and crashed to the ground. Regardless of the effectiveness of Saber’s attack, their foes still managed to remain hidden. They likely only could hide amongst the debris of the vegetation, but it was cover enough for their foes to not sense even the smallest trace of their presence.

Just when they were beginning to think that the attack may have wiped them all out, Vox Saber was attacked from the shadows, just not with a normal weapon. It was a lasso tightening around his neck, followed up by another two that wrapped around his wrists. Before Vox Lancer could step in and help him, a bullet hit his left shoulder and he had to parry a flying axe before it split his head in two, leaving him open to Archer tackling him into the ground.

Vox Saber got a better look at his restrainers once they walked closer, answering the question of how they had so much firepower to pin them down and hold him from three different directions. It was a group of men dressed in similar regalia to Rider’s, six in total, two grabbing onto each of the ropes, and pulling with all their might to keep him in place.

The next surprise came with the sound of steps coming from behind him. Suddenly another person jumped on his back and stabbed him in the shoulder. “My war party and I are more than skilled at taking wild animals down. You are easy prey compared to them.” Rider pressed on the wound and was about to drop his hatchet on his head when Saber managed to wrestle his right arm free and used it to throw Rider off him.

Vox Lancer and Archer struggled on the ground until the centurion managed to put some distance between them. Giving the hunter a good look over he realized that his opponent didn’t get out of Saber’s attack unscarred. Patches of blood stained his body and clothes, with heavy pants echoed from his mouth. It matched his own looks, having taken the most damage during the shootout. “You’re resilient, I’ll give you that…” Lancer commented, having lost sight of his weapon during the scuffle.

Archer noticed all the injuries and spoke. “That was us trying to keep you busy. You and your partner should walk away before it gets worse.” They were holding them up in place as long as possible and all of them were hitting their limits already.

Still, Vox Lancer’s answer wasn’t a surprise. “We still have the advantage. You two are in worse shape than we are.” He raised his fists and got ready to continue. “I have to commend you on your perseverance. For a Servant not centered around combat, you sure put up a good fight.”

Vox Saber continued struggling with his restraints, adding up the injuries he received during battle and the mana he spent on that last attack, his movement weighed on him more and more as the seconds passed. Yet, he managed to pull the warriors trapping his left arm after getting his second wind. Pulling the rope and the men in one tug, he made short work of the warriors with his bare hands, and they vanished with their deaths. With both hands free, Saber broke the rope around his neck and took a second to breathe freely.

And Lancer’s previous observation applied to Rider too. He took his fair share of wounds after that attack. “It’s been a while... since I have been this tired in battle…” Saber managed to wheeze in between breaths. “It feels real…Like the fight could really sway to either side.”

Rider picked up his weapons and pointed them at him. “You sound very sure about that last part.” And the remainder of his party joined him. “But you’re outnumbered. It’s only a matter of time before we take you down.”

With the taste of blood so fresh and strong in his mouth, it pleased Saber to have a challenge ready for him. Clenching his fist and smiling at his opponents, snarled out. “Not if I kill you first. I live to fight on the brink. Really gets your blood pumping!” It wasn’t the kind of reaction Rider was expecting; he called the rest of his party into formation and got ready for the inevitable attack from Vox Saber.

***

A few miles away from both battles, Samuel’s car was having trouble traversing the thick woods. The few patches of clear path ended shortly after they started their pursuit and at this point they had been forced to take a couple of turns and twists to avoid the hottest places in the forest. It was kind of a complicated system they had set up. Rider and Lancer would report any changes from the front lines to their Masters, who in turn were using radios to share that news to the rest of the group. With Samuel and Roberta being right up front, they had to adjust their route constantly while still trying to catch up with the Servant that took Berserker.

Still a good distance away from the last known enemy position, according to Lancer’s report, they still needed to make it out of the rough patch of land they were driving by. That’s when they received something from Harvest’s car. In between the static they managed to hear: “Something…Behind you…”

Being the one with her hands free, Roberta picked up the call. “What was that?” She and Samuel exchanged worried looks.

Getting a clearer line now. “We saw something closing in from behind you.”

Disturbed now. “What exactly did you see?”

Before she could get an answer from the other side. “That…” Samuel pointed at the back mirror. It got clearer as they went on, even in the dead of night, that something bright was following them. Samuel stepped on the gas trying to keep ahead, but their pursuer proved itself faster than their vehicle. Closing in on them easily and giving them a good look of who was behind them. “That’s the enemy Rider alright.” The one they had passed so long ago now had managed to gain on them. And it looked like he was speeding even faster after them.

Samuel kept trying to lose that thing as best as he could. The Servant seemed to ignore all obstacles before it, and worse yet, the light surrounding him was his green flames engulfing him and his mount, burning everything that crossed his path. The more Vox Rider closed in on them, the more it became obvious that they wouldn’t be able to escape the Servant’s attack. Right before the moment of impact, Samuel did his best to brace the whole car for impact and swayed to the side trying to dodge whatever the Servant was about to do.

Although that maneuver helped mitigate the damage, Vox Rider still rammed into the vehicle, sending them spiraling into a nearby tree. However, that didn’t stop the Servant, who didn’t even glance at them as he passed them by. Considering the extra mud and the angle they had crashed in, they couldn’t keep going. Samuel sighed; at least both of them were safe and unhurt. “The Servant kicked us off of the road, someone come pick us up.” Samuel spoke to the radio. After he received his answer he turned to Roberta, following her outside as she exited the car. “We are pretty far away from the fights, but I still say we should back out.”

Roberta still looked affected after that crash, needing to use the tree to support herself. “Fine, just give me a second…”

*

The headless Servant continued without further obstacle to his target, ramping up the speed to make it before anything else could happen. He made it to the river just in time to see Lancer standing up after being blown away earlier. Still lit up in his magical fire, now with both weapons drawn, he charged forward to battle her. Anticipating that move, Lancer took a stance and waited until the rider was close enough for her to dodge the attack and throw a counter, knocking the Servant off of his mount.

Knowing the fight wouldn’t end that easily, Lancer shifted around the area, positioning herself in a way that let her keep an eye on the enemy Rider and the wooden cabin, which had gone eerily quiet after she was so forcefully removed. With her enemy recovering as fast as ever after her attack, she shouted. “Bring it on! I’ll beat both of you right here.” She taunted both Servants.

*

Nonetheless, before the fight could go on, something happened that vindicated Lancer’s gut feeling. The Servants fighting in the forest, and the Masters making their own way would all witness it.

It started with rain, hard rain that seemed to come from nowhere. Enough to make the ground muddy after only a few seconds. “What’s up with this rain?” Roberta commented, having given up on worrying about her shoes; they were already ruined.

Already moody by so much water, Samuel was impatiently waiting for their pickup, bent over to the radio. “It’s fall, rain is normal around these areas too.”

“But not like this…” She was catching on quick to this abnormality. “There were no clouds earlier and the forecast said nothing about heavy rains. We should have noticed something is all I’m saying.” Additionally, while there was no thunder or lightning, there was something rumbling in the distance. Luckily, the rest of the group found them soon enough.

*

Though the rain was easily dismissed by the Master, all Servants on the field could sense something sinister about it. It was enough to make them pause their respective battles. With an unsaid look between all of them, each one broke from their enemy and regrouped with their companion. “What is this?” Asked Vox Saber.

Vox Lancer himself pondered about this. “This is that witch’s doing. Which means Archer couldn’t get to the Grail.”

On the other side of the field, Archer looked over his helper. “Are you hurt?” Putting aside the normal bruises and scratches from all of this, Rider also looked disoriented and was trying hard to focus his eyesight.

With all of his summons gone, he had been fighting the enemy Saber on his own for the last couple minutes, but he could tell that this wasn’t normal fatigue. “I’m tired, more than I should be…” He looked at his hands, still clenching his knife and hatchet, all bloodied from his enemy’s blood, and he could no longer find the strength to keep standing.

His stumbling took Archer by surprise. “Rider?” It took him a couple of seconds to process that his companion suddenly collapsed without warning. “What’s going on? The enemy is still here!” All his efforts to wake him up were in vain and Rider was obviously in pain and unconscious.

“What should we do?” Vox Saber asked.

Their objective was unchanged: get the Grail. No matter what might have happened with their Archer, they still had a job to do. “One enemy is down, we deal with them together and then find the Grail before something else happens.”

“Fine by me.” Saber cracked his knuckles as he advanced towards Archer. “You can go ahead, I’m more than enough for him.”

Just as Archer began to grow worried about his situation, the rumbling they all heard in the distance was no longer that far away. Catching all of their attention when they saw the cause of it all.

*

It was Lancer that got the first view of Vox Caster’s sorcery. The rain was just a small part of it. Somehow, the witch managed to summon a huge tidal way that overflowed the nearby river. It came with enough force that one would think it had been raining for days, and Lancer had just enough time to brace herself before it swept them all away. Vox Rider’s flames were instantly extinguished under the water’s pressure, outdoing the prior heavy rain that had done nothing against them. And Vox Caster’s house was also engulfed by water.

The next ones to get hit were Archer and Rider, with my Servant taking the time to shield and secure Rider before being hit by the tidal wave so they wouldn’t get separated underwater. Vox Lancer and Saber barely managed to secure themselves on a tree as the water hit them.

Finally, the car being driven by Xiang, with Red Harvest as copilot, and carrying Samuel and Roberta as passengers, was hit. They had just barely picked the duo up and resumed their way before they noticed the forest flooding around them. They might have missed the brunt of the tidal wave but it was obvious they needed to back down before it was too late.

Samuel grabbed his radio to speak with the kids behind them. “Kai, Kai! If you can hear me, go back to the manor, there’s something wrong going on here.” The static had turned bad enough that he received no answer. He turned to the Masters in the car. “What about your Servants? Is there any news?”

The Masters focused hard on communicating with the Servants but received no answer. “Nothing, and that’s bad. It means Lancer is knocked out.” It was something Xiang didn’t believe possible.

Still receiving no answer from the last car, he repeated his warning. “Back down, retreat to the manor, do any of you hear me?” Samuel began worrying about the kids. “Turn the car around, if they can’t hear us we’ll have to meet them halfway.” Xiang did just that and they turned tail, just in time as the water was rising at an increasing rate.

Going back the way they came proved to be the better option. It took them back to higher terrain and gave them some time to escape the surprise flood. The first thing on their minds was to survive the night, all of them. If they could pull that off it was obvious their Servants could too. Whatever happened tonight it could always turn for the worse by losing one of them.

This same sentiment was what put their nerves on end the more they retreated. They never ran into the third vehicle on their way back, not even catching a glimpse of their lights under the rain. And even if all those signs failed them, they were all sure Saber and Caster were still with them, so they must come across them at some point.

The whole way back, all of them tried contacting the missing group on the radio or to spot them out the window, and it was a long way back. They had been in pursuit for the better part of an hour with the distance and the turns they made. During this time there was still nothing from their Servants on the field and the rain never let down.

It wasn’t until they made it out of the woods and found the third car of their convoy parked a few meters away with the lights still on that they finally felt relief. Xiang parked their jeep near them and all passengers from both cars descended in order to talk. “What happened, I thought we had the enemy on the run?” Kaito asked as soon as they met.

Roberta answered back. “Things got messed up deeper in the forest. Why weren’t you answering?”

“There was something wrong with our radio. We could hear but for some reason you can’t.” Evelyn answered and then added. “Saber and Caster are still in the forest. We told them to see what was happening and to help if needed. They are still out there.”

“What should we do now? Pretty sure we lost the enemy in the flood.” Xiang commented. Indeed, the whole place and all clues were destroyed already. Waiting for morning sounded like a better idea.

“We wait here for everyone else to come back. It shouldn’t take long with the extra reinforcements.” Samuel was talking about Saber and Caster, who were surely on their way to help the stragglers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rereading the chapter I was happy at how good VLancer and VSaber work together.
> 
> Tell me what you think, I like reading comments in my stories.


	12. When the Rain Ends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter

At the very back of the pursuit were Saber and Caster. They were the only Servants staying close to the Association’s Masters to look after them. But now, after the entire battlefield has been overflowed by water and rain, it was their job to scout ahead and make sure their teammates were fine.

The first ones they encountered were Archer and Rider. Archer was having trouble staying above water, carrying the unconscious Rider with his free hand, stopping him from being taken by the strong current.

Caster couldn’t have arrived at a better moment, descending from up above and offering both arms to Archer. Holding her by the legs was Saber, standing on a thick enough branch to hold their weight. As Archer locked hands with Caster. “Hang on tight we are jumping up.” With one arm around Rider and the other being held by Caster, he was swung side to side by Saber until they had enough momentum to jump forward and onto the branch in front of them. The Servants landed safely and Caster gave her companion a thumbs up. “You would’ve made great trapeze artists. Alright, who are you and what happened to Rider?”

Still spitting water and getting his bearings, the large man answered. “I’m Archer and I don’t know. He just collapsed during the fight.”

Saber joined them after jumping to their side. “The enemy did something to him?” Even unconscious, Rider looked pained, and surely all that time underwater didn’t help.

“I don’t know…” Archer’s mind was so busy processing everything that just happened, and above all else he was more than worried about his missing Master. “Listen, I-I can’t deal with this now. My Master needs me, I don’t know what that witch is doing to her right now.”

Caster and Saber shared a look, believing that the witch he was talking about was the same that attacked them back at the manor. “Alright, I’ll take Rider back.” Caster picked him up with ease.

“You and I will try and find your Master.” Saber still needed to find Lancer and Berserker. “If we are lucky we’ll find them in no time.” Without more to say, the Servants broke in groups, each heading a different way.

***

With the river flooding over so quickly the extra water expanded the shores over a huge area. More than a handful of towns would be affected. The amount of debris being swept down the river was already becoming dangerous. Wooden structures and buildings, at least one hunting cabin, uprooted trees, and the stray car here and there, all were being pushed down the river path equally.

It was on one of those floating trees that Vox Archer managed to grasp and resurface. The Servant had trouble climbing up as he was holding onto something quite heavy with his right arm.

Once he got enough of a foothold on top he managed to pull Lancer out of the water and on top of the log. Laying her across the log while he sat on top. “You’re the strongest one of us here, but you can’t swim?”

“I’d like to see you try floating in a full suit of plate armor!” She barked back. Slow on her recovery, and with her face wound still fresh, Lancer asked. “Why did you pull me out?”

“I just want the Grail.” The loss hit him so hard he didn’t even care where the river took them now. “I don’t want to fight, believe me, but I can’t walk away from the people I care about.”

“Then fight for them.” Lancer was quick to comment. “You can’t stay on the sidelines when the people you want to protect are in trouble. Action is better than non-action.”

Archer chuckled before answering back. “Even if it’s against you?”

“Learn to pick your fights…” She was pulling every piece of wisdom she could remember from her old days. “It’s not perfect advice…but if you don’t make a decision, it’ll be made for you. And you’re not gonna like it.” He went awfully silent after that comment. “You didn’t pull me out because of some scheme you’re planning on the long run, but because you couldn’t leave me to drown.” Not something she was happy about though, to be pitied by the enemy.

The Servant kept thinking about everything, especially Lancer’s words, still trapped in that argument inside his mind. “Shouldn’t you be going off now, flying back to your friends?” That kind of advice wasn’t affecting him the way Lancer might have thought. But then, she didn’t know how everything that happened tonight was partly his fault.

Letting out a big sigh, Lancer stood on the log, her body hurting after all the fighting. “Thanks again for the help.” She picked a direction and took a leap upwards, rocking the log up and down, almost knocking Archer off.

“Hey! Don’t rock the boat!” Archer shook his head.

*

It was a quick trip on her golden cloud before she spotted Saber amongst the trees and descended. “Where is everyone?”

“They went back to the manor. What about the enemy?” Saber asked. There was no sign of the witch or the enemy Servants, but he was glad to have found his companion so quickly. “You’re hurt, maybe we should talk back where it’s safe.” Anywhere else was better than in that flooded forest right now.

In that moment, Lancer caught their Archer hanging in the back. “You already met the new guy, good.” What Saber said was true, they were hurt and tired; they might as well gather everybody up for a debriefing back at the manor. The trio went back at the fastest pace they could muster.

***

By the time they made it back to Association grounds, the rest of their group was already inside the manor tending to the wounded and discussing what to do next.

The only ones that could give a clear recollection of what happened were Lancer and Archer. And with both of them hurt, any conversation would need to be in the infirmary. The only ones that could be there for it though were Samuel, Roberta, and Xiang. The kids had been told to stay away, Red Harvest was tending to Rider, and the uninjured Servants stood guard around the manor.

“So…” Roberta was the one stitching Lancer’s lip; not an easy task with her also retelling her sides of the events, but the Master made do and they managed to understand everything with little issues. “Your teeth are already growing back and the stitches shouldn’t be a problem, unless you start yelling for no reason.” Now with a worried expression on the woman’s face. “Did you see Berserker in the cabin?”

Lancer noded. “I saw him and a little girl.”

“Yeah, that’s still something I can’t wrap my head around.” Samuel spoke up, directing his next question to the other Servant in the room. “You’re telling us that little girl is not only your Master but also the Grail?” They had all heard Archer’s abridged version of the last couple of days, and obviously some questions popped on everybody’s heads. “So the truck we saw in Mexico, that girl was inside of it, with the whole convoy to escort her?”

Archer let out a small sigh. “She had a whole room inside of it. The plan was to move her inside that truck all the way across the country. The Professor commanded me to never leave her side, and that’s what I have been doing all this time…Until now.”

The Masters had a hard time believing him, but Archer had the testimony of all their Servants to back him up, coupled with what Lancer had said about the enemy’s Archer. They had been missing a Servant all this time, along with the Grail, so getting some answers about this mystery was more than welcomed. Still…“Yeah, but, a little girl…” Samuel couldn’t wrap his head around that. “Why would they let a homunculus girl carry something so important?”

“Her name is Isabel.” His stern voice got everyone’s attention. Not expecting such a reaction, he continued sheepishly. “Isa for short. Not even she understands her position.”

The silence that followed took some seconds to be broken. “What matters now is how we proceed from this point.” Xiang wanted to throw in her two cents. “Not only did we lose a Servant, but the enemy has the Grail now. And we have no idea where they might have gone with it... her.”

“She isn’t working with the enemy though. That Caster is on her own…” Samuel began his reasoning. “You said she doesn’t even have a Master, right?” He gestured to Archer who shook his head. “How’s the rain coming along?”

Roberta moved the curtains to the side and saw nothing but strong winds and rain. “Still at it. Probably will go on like this for a few days.”

“Mmmmmmm…” It seemed easy to figure out what to do next. “I think we should wait.” The old man received some confused looks from everyone around. “Hear me out. Everything that Servant did tonight: put us to sleep, protect her retreat, fight off Lancer, over flood the river, and whatever she did to Berserker. She has to be drained by now, magically speaking. Her next move would be to find a way to recharge, and I’m sure it’s going to be loud enough for us to notice.”

“That’s a terrible plan!” Roberta couldn’t help but comment. “If she holds all the cards, we should strike her while we have the opportunity, not wait until she is capable of fighting back.”

But Samuel was ready to argue back. “The river could have pulled her anywhere from here to the ocean. We can’t fight her if we can’t find her, and we can’t send out a search party in this storm.”

Luckily, they weren’t completely clueless, and Roberta was quick to add. “Harvest has been gathering information on this very subject. Pretty sure we just shortened the options a whole bunch.”

“Listen!” Xiang called attention to herself with a yell. “Whatever we decide to do with the Servant, we can’t forget about the enemy faction.” She often brought up other perspectives to these arguments. “If we know where the Grail is now, they know. We have to anticipate two sides now in this conflict. Ignore one and the other might take the advantage.”

Samuel said confidently. “Vox Nihili won’t be that much of a problem. They’ve been predictable so far, and Assassin is keeping an eye on them.” It  _ had _ been a while since he had received any news from him though.

“Nonetheless, search and destroy. That should be our game plan.” Nothing was going to make Roberta drop this. “We get the girl, we get the upper hand.”

Before they could discuss further Kaito barged in to deliver a message. “Hey, the Dean really wants to speak to us.” It would seem they would have to check in before they were ready. Despite the hour, and their injuries, the group couldn’t ignore their employer.

What made answering the call difficult was one of their Masters being preoccupied. Ever since they had presented Rider to him, Red Harvest had been working on solving whatever ailment had befallen his Servant and keeping him alive.

In the short hour since they had come back to the manor, he had tried every antidote he could conceivably make but nothing seemed to work. He even went back to notes he had taken while treating Lancer, noticing the poison samples he took from Rider were quite similar to Lancer’s. Still, he shouldn’t have that hard a time fixing Rider, so maybe it was the difference in Servants and how well they handled poisons.

It was obvious he couldn’t just leave and halt treatment. So when Evelyn walked inside his room to hand over the news, he wasn’t happy to leave. “I’ll leave Saber behind. He can help fix Rider with his own magic.”

The Servant materialized himself beside his Master. “I’m sure my magic will help him stabilize at least.” With that Red Harvest had to relent.

It was late, and everybody was absolutely spent from the escapade, as all the Masters got together in the conference room to deliver a report. A difference from the other times they have done this though, was the number of Association guards that followed them inside the room. Those that still remained after the mist attack flanked them within the conference room.

“What’s going on, Dean? It’s awfully late as it is.” Samuel was the first to talk.

“Actually, it’s already morning here.” The Dean shook his head to avoid getting off track. “The guards already told me what happened today. You lost one of our Servants to the enemy! How could you let that happen?!”

Not wanting to keep quiet, Roberta also spoke up. “A rogue Servant attacked us by surprise. As it is, that was more a security fault.”

“And we did everything we could. We made pursuit into the forest after them. Our Servants fought with tooth and nail against the enemy. Even we couldn’t predict the enemy faction would ambush us in the forest.” Red Harvest intervened, with his Servant getting the worst part of it, he wasn’t about to let the effort seem null or insufficient.

Equally heated up about all of this, the Dean shouted. “You’re really going to downplay our staff while they’re in the room with you? At least they are more honest than the whole lot of you.” He hoped an insult would put them in line. “It was them that reported on tonight’s attack, AND on Berserker’s attack on the encampment. Yes, we know about that too.” He held onto his secret informant still; they didn’t need to know about that yet. “You do realize trying to hide critical information from your contractors puts into question your alignment on this war?”

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes at the Dean. “You think we’d turn against you this deep into the conflict?” Xiang noticed the Dean about to talk back and didn’t let him. “We are the ones fighting here. Anything we kept from you was information we found unnecessary. Our faction-”

“But this isn’t your faction.” He cut her off. So much time has been wasted with nothing to show. It was no surprise the higher ups were becoming unsettled about the Grail and their future, especially the Dean who was forced into this from the very start. “The fact that you have command seals makes you no different than any of these other mercenaries. You’re all working for the Association and you need to fall in line. No more secrets from now on! Tell me everything that happened tonight.”

It was clear they were in a tight spot, and all of them fueling the fire with their tempers wasn’t helping, so Samuel took the lead again and began retelling the events as Lancer and Archer told them. However, the pyromancer was careful to not disclose finding their seventh Servant and his relationship with the Grail. He twisted the facts a bit, filling some spaces with lies while trying to keep everything consistent.

The rest of the Masters that knew the truth remained silent as they heard everything, closer to Samuel’s line of thought. Either the Association didn’t want them knowing the Grail’s true nature or they themselves didn’t know, and given the position they were in at the moment, it wouldn’t help to show their full hand. That they were still frustrated about being blamed for everything might have something to do with it.

The Dean took it all in with a grain of salt, weary of being lied to already. “Go and find that Servant. Deal with her before it’s too late.”

At least that cut their options down. “We will depart first thing in the morning…”

“No…” The Dead cut them off. “You are going right now.”

All of the Masters contained their groans, but some couldn’t maintain their glares in check. “We are all tired and it’s the middle of the night. We also need time to pack our things and I lost my car…”

But the Dean wouldn’t have it. “We have cars at the ready. Make sure to pack light and I’m sure you can find accommodations along the way.” This was sounding more like a power move from the Dean, a way to remind all of them of who was really in charge. “You need to find those that attacked you and deal with them. Both of them.”

“Alright, listen here!” Roberta stood up, pushing her chair away as she did so. “Berserker is still my Servant. We are taking him back from that witch and that’s final!” All the guards flinched at her outburst.

Before Samuel could step in to stop the ensuing argument, the Dean delivered an ultimatum. “That Servant is a liability. He already attacked our men and now has deserted to the enemy. He is clearly a threat to us.”

Trying to argue her case. “He didn’t defected, he is under some kind of control…”

“I don’t think that would hold up during a fight. Berserker will come after you if given the chance. You’re still looking at him like an ally.” The Dean had regained some composure. “Do this and it will also help redeem your name, Miss Vasquez. Losing your Servant has put your abilities into question in front of the whole faculty. Do this right and we won’t need to pull you out from the war.” Yes, they were unfairly comparing her to a Caster class Servant, but in their eyes she had still messed up somewhere to be in that situation.

Roberta’s blood was boiling at this point but she managed to bite her tongue, letting Samuel speak up. “It will be done.” The task was a hard one, moreso if he were to stop and think it through, but it was better to comply for the time being. “Everyone, pack whatever you need and we’ll meet in the garage.”

They all had a complaint or some reasoning they wanted to speak out loud, but all of it would have to wait for later.

***

After preparations for their late night travel were ready, the Masters gathered around the two cars they’d take for the night. Traveling in groups of three, Samuel was taking Kaito and Evelyn to keep them up to date on everything that happened and what was discussed behind closed doors. Roberta and Xiang did the same with Red Harvest on their vehicle.

Late at night, the rain pouring like crazy, and everyone exhausted already, Samuel guided the whole group to a late night dinner on the side of the highway; always making sure they were not being followed. Leaving the Servants outside for extra security, the Masters sat inside the dry restaurant and talked while waiting for their food.

“How’s Rider holding up?” Roberta asked the visibly worried Master. Red Harvest had been late to the departure time because of his Servant’s condition.

Letting out a small yawn before answering. “It was a tough fight, to say the least, but he’ll pull through. I must say it’s a good thing Saber offered his help when he did..”

“I’m sure your work helped a whole lot more than just him.” Evelyn said with a reassuring smile on her face. “Anyway, why are we here instead of looking for the enemy like the Dean suggested?” She might be fine doing this but to say she wasn’t worried would be a lie.

Taking a sip of his coffee, fuel for the drive ahead, Samuel answered. “Well, I’m sure none of us are up for night watch. We can find a place to sleep once we are done eating.” As the waitress set their food down, he continued. “But the rain and flood are going to close some roads for a couple of days, and our search pattern is pretty dim as it is already.”

The pyromancer took a mouthful of his dinner so Roberta took to explaining. “And the Dean must know this, or at least, he will realize this after an hour or two. Whatever point or theatrics he was trying to pull at the manor must be the pressure getting to the Association.”

“They need to remind us we are working for them?” Kaito asked. “And why would we say nothing about the Grail? I think that would’ve eased the guy’s nerves a little bit”

In between chews, Samuel mumbled. “No, it will actually be the exact opposite. They find out the Grail is in the hands of a Servant with no faction, they’ll want our heads for losing it, and they’ll send in someone worse than us to just wipe out the whole situation, or at least work us to death until we find it.”

“I was sure we would have an escort 24/7 too.” They still had one last glimpse of freedom, even after all the posturing, so that was a welcome relief for Roberta. Welcome relief in a sea of troubles. “My days here are numbered, though. With no Servant and after being caught on that lie, I’ll be lucky not to be under a sealing designation back in London.”

That sure soured the mood around the table. “Don’t think like that.” The old shaman intervened. “Putting possible mercy from our bosses aside…” Or the lack thereof. “You still have your Command Seals. They wouldn’t toss something like that to the wind.”

Not giving any time to let that comment sink in, Kaito asked everyone. “What about the new Servant?” Gaining all of their attention. “I mean, we barely even know him and you’re all so cool about it. How do we know he isn’t an enemy or working for the witch?”

With more silence coming down, the older ones had to admit to something. “Yeah, I got nothing for you.” Samuel answered. “He came in and helped our side during battle. Not a lot for me and it’d be the perfect way to set us up, but his Master is in trouble, the Servants seem to trust him, and we will be on the road for a while so it’ll be hard for him to feed intel to the enemy.”

“I think it would have been easy for him to let Rider die. Yet he helped him, not knowing a thing about us.” Although just Harvest’s opinion, it was just as important an angle to look at. “And we have a lot of time to make ourselves acquainted with him now.”

Xiang looked down before throwing a piece of her mind. “I trust him.” No strings attached nor doubts either. “He is a kind man, I can sense it.”

Only Roberta could tell that answer might not satisfy Kaito and Evelyn. “There’s a reason he is out there with the rest of the Servants. They are better judges of character than us. Maybe they will get a better feel for the guy.”

And Evelyn looked sorry about that. “They could have done that inside though. I don’t like the idea of leaving the injured out in the cold rain.” Even amongst the uninjured, she didn’t like leaving Saber outside.

Not that it eased his worries, but Red Harvest added. “Rider was already looking better when we left. Good enough to walk at least. I’ll be busy these next few days looking after him. Maybe we should get a bigger vehicle. Something to transport us where we can also sleep.”

“I would like Caster to have some dinner too. She is the reason we managed to pursue the enemy tonight.” Now Kaito felt guilty about enjoying his food in the warm restaurant.

Doing her best to hide her smile. “Lancer hates water, she doesn’t even know how to swim. I can’t imagine how rattled she must be right now.” Despite the joke, Xiang worried about her being able to sleep tonight.

As they each sounded off about their Servants, Samuel thought about his. He couldn’t help it. “The rain ought to make Assassin’s job easier. It’s hard to detect a spy with nature hitting you this hard. I’ll contact him in the morning. See if he needs anything.”

Clicking her tongue, Roberta finished the conversation. “I hope Berserker is alright.” Even after everything that happened, Berserker had been one of theirs. Having him taken like that left a bad taste in her mouth. “Goddammit…” She just remembered something big. “That little girl too, they are both with that witch.” She knew she wasn’t going to get any sleep. Those thoughts would never leave her mind now.

***

The rain was still going hard as the Masters decided on a place to sleep the rest of the night. Caster made sure they all slept safely and took first watch, looking over the motel from a vantage point deeper into the wilderness. The Servant, pleased as she was that there was no enemy presence nearby, made it down the tree she had been perched upon and walked into the small encampment where the rest of the Servants had chosen to pass the night.

It was only a large natural stone formation with a quickly crafted roof to keep the rain off their heads. A campfire was made in the middle to keep them all warm. While a typical Servant would not feel the cold, the wind, or the rain, their relative distance from the Grail made their existence more human.

As Caster stepped in, she found the rest of the group still up and speaking. “They are all safely asleep.” Once she delivered her report she sat in between Saber and Rider. “What are you guys talking about?”

Saber answered first. “We are listening to Archer’s story. How he fought an enemy Servant while on the run.”

Letting out a small chuckle, Caster looked over in interest. “Really? What class?”

Sitting across from her, Archer answered. “Berserker.” He spread both arms wide with a smile on his face. “He was a wolf bigger than this. Bigger than me even. Almost did me in if I hadn’t had help.”

“Your Master, right?” Caster asked.

He gave her a small nod. “She is a small kid but she is also determined to make it out of this alive.” Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Rider not paying much attention to the conversation, mostly looking at the fire with a tired expression. “Uh, Rider? How are you holding up?”

Rider was covered in blankets and looked a bit pale, understandably so considering what happened to him only a couple of hours ago. “I’m fine. At least, not unconscious anymore.” This was thanks to the fast treatment his Master and Saber gave him. “It’s my hands that are killing me.” He put both hands over the fire to warm them up, indirectly showing the rest of the group that they had swollen as if they were covered in bruises.

Lancer looked on with a worried expression. “What kind of attack did  _ that _ to you?”

“It was poison.” Saber answered the question. “I noticed it while I was healing him.”

Lancer seemed to realize something with this new piece of information. “Could it be possible the other Saber uses poison?”

They each gave it some thought. It seemed highly likely that Lancer was right, and that kind of information would be a boon for their next encounter. “It could be. You really never know what tricks a Servant might be hiding.” Caster answered, still intrigued by the idea. But knowing of its source wasn’t enough. “How did you treat the poison so fast?”

Rider opened up his blankets to reveal Saber’s sword clenched to his torso and Saber explained. “Whoever holds Joyeuse is immune to all poisons. It doesn’t work too well if the poison is already in your system, but it helps better than most antidotes.”

In the midst of their talk, Caster remembered something important. “Oh, I almost forgot! Who’s next on guard duty?” She had just come back from her guard duty, but had totally forgotten to pass it off.

Saber began contorting his hands to point them in different directions. “I think we agreed on class order backwards.” With that logic, he began thinking who was next. “It’s your turn, Lancer.”

The girl Servant groaned. “I knew you were going to say that.” She stood up and looked at the still pouring rain with an annoyed expression. “See you in the morning then.”

But Archer stopped her after realizing something. “Wait, if we go by that order, I should be next.” And the whole group went silent, all of them trying to not make eye contact with him. “What? It’s not a big deal.” He was still dumbfounded by the sudden change in atmosphere. He slowly looked around at their faces until the answer came to his mind. “You still don’t trust me?”

Caster was the one to answer, still thinking of the right words to say. “I can’t speak for the rest, but I trust you…”

Before she could continue, Rider spoke up. “I also trust you.” After their fight, and all the times Archer could have easily killed him or let him die, but didn’t, he had no reason not to.

“So do I.” Lancer said confidently. “Just a feeling telling me you’re not lying.”

“And I think you’re trustworthy.” Was the best Saber could say. Archer looked back at all of them as if to say  _ So what’s the problem? _ “What Caster is trying to say is…We can’t be too careful in this war. Not with lives on the line.”

It hurt a bit hearing how they felt, but he could see their point. After all, he was in a similar situation. “My Master is also in danger, and instead of going after her I’m here with all of you. You know why? Because I know that I won’t be able to rescue her without your help. I have no choice but to put my trust in you and your Masters. Why can’t you do the same for me?”

Saber felt bad, making it sound so antagonizing for Archer. The only thing he could do was tell the truth even though he knew it wouldn’t sound any better. “Again, we all trust you, that isn’t the problem. But just as you’re worried about your Master, we all have someone of our own to look after.”

The whole group kept silent as Lancer turned around and went to make her rounds under the pouring rain. Even afterward, the party remained quiet and awkward until Rider shuffled around in place. “I’m going to sleep now.”

Sensing the tension wouldn’t die down for a while, “I’ll get some rest too.” Caster vanished into her spiritual form, continuing keeping an eye around the campsite.

Saber let out a long string of air, trying to come up with something else to talk about with Archer. “How are our chances against that crazy Servant?” At least that was something they both worried about.

Archer clicked his tongue. “Depends on where we fight her. Inside her wooden cabin it’ll be almost impossible to take her down.”

Thinking this as a strategic manner. “She could remain in that place indefinitely if she wanted to. A siege could take days. I could only think about bringing her out, but not how…”

“…” Archer himself couldn’t think of any options at the time. “I just want to take Isa out of there. She is in danger now that everyone knows her position. More so now that the witch’s true colors have been revealed.”

***

Just after the river led us back to dry land, I tried to make a run for it. The moment Caster went outside to look around and make sure it was safe. I gave the white haired boy the slip and ran for the exit. It didn’t get me far enough, or at all, before they both caught me and brought me back to the cabin.

But that small attempt made it clear for Caster that she had to make sure I wasn’t going to try it again. The look on her face made my nerves run a mile, already knowing how she treated her prisoners. It didn’t help when she began preparing something in her cauldron while the kid held me down, the fumes from her concoction filling the whole hut soon enough. However, what made me lose any hope of keeping my limbs was the moment she gave her new Servant some sort of potion she prepared on the side, while downing some of the same liquid. It was obvious the smoke would affect me in some way; I just didn’t know how.

That was until I began feeling dizzy and sleepy. So, as a last effort to escape, I struggled hard enough to get out of the kid’s hands. With Caster busy in front of the chimney, the way to the door was clear for me to make another attempt. Only for my legs to give up at the last couple of steps, making a loud thud as I fell to the ground.

To my surprise, Caster wasn’t angry, like prior experience had led me to believe. She calmly walked towards me as I kept crawling towards the door, brushing my hair with her hand as she tried to calm me down. “It’s ok, you can go to sleep now.”

More and more my body grew numb as I approached the door. “You’re…you’re…” I was just lucky he didn’t try holding me down. “Insane…!” Even my eyes got blurry, alongside my head spinning like crazy. I knew I wouldn’t make it, but I had to try. “You will…Cut me up…Like…”

Caster reacted to that last comment. “I would never do that to you. You’re my family, they are just…nothing.” Still, I kept moving away from her, or trying to. “You’re going to hurt yourself like that, let me take you to bed…”

Just feeling her hands touch me was enough to give me the strength to push them off. “Don’t touch me…I’ll…” That’s when I could no longer talk, my tongue going unresponsive. And Caster decided to let me tire myself out, not speaking or saying anything until I passed out in front of the door. The witch let out a small sigh before moving back to the chimney, she had to clean everything off before moving on with her day.

Then, like I suddenly got possessed, I rose up from the ground, slamming my fist into the floor and letting out a loud scream. I can’t explain it. My mind could only tell me that I was so close to that door, so close to being out of this place. So close in fact that I only needed to reach out with my hand, put all my strength into turning the knob and pushing the thing open. Then I truly fell unconscious as I crossed the threshold, only my head and arms making it to the other side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting a bit nervous since I'm nearing one big part I haven't finished


	13. Downpour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing much to say, just a breather episode.

By noon, the Association’s Masters were back on the road. With no idea of which direction to go, they chose to cross the flooded river while they still had the chance. It was becoming more and more difficult to travel with freedom, what with the amount of roads closed and the rain refusing to let up.

As they rolled along the road trip, an annoyed Kaito suddenly urged, “Sensei…” but Samuel was too busy with the road to answer. The teenager sat straight from his seat in the back of the car and called out again. “Sensei!”

Rolling his eyes, Samuel finally replied. “What? I can’t pay attention to the road with you distracting me.”

Kaito leaned forward so his teacher could really hear him. “Where are we going?”

Samuel ignored Red Harvest’s chuckle coming from the passenger seat and answered. “We are looking for the Grail…”

“Yeah, I know that…” The boy interrupted him. “But where are we going? We don’t know how to find the Grail.”

Knowing Samuel wasn’t in the mood to argue, Red Harvest interjected to explain. “We are following some points of interest along the state.” His previous plan was still good and he had managed to craft a fine enough map for them to follow. “Also, if we stick to the nearby towns we should be able to open a line of communication with the Dean. We still have our reports to make.”

The moment Red Harvest mentioned the Dean, Samuel groaned. “What is it?” Kaito thought it weird that his teacher would be so angry about the topic after all the discussions the day before.

Again, Red Harvest was the one to answer. “He is still pretty frustrated that the Association hasn’t come to beg us to return.” He turned to their driver. “Apparently the Dean is more stubborn than you thought.” His comment wasn’t even acknowledged by the pyromancer. Red Harvest understood why Samuel was so angry; that none of them got enough sleep surely didn’t help. “Maybe we should change car mates at the next gas station. I’m sure some time with Roberta will cheer you up.”

With that comment, Samuel finally had to answer. “No, we are kind of fighting right now. It’ll be too awkward.”

“Oh, please.” The shaman couldn’t contain himself. “Your relationship is nothing but fighting and making out. It hasn’t changed from when you were teenagers.”

“It’s really hard to…” Kaito stopped himself before continuing. “Actually, it’s really easy imagining you as a teenager” His mannerisms and way of thinking were pretty much the same, after all. “But with Miss Roberta it’s hard to.”

“She is more reserved, I’ll grant you that. But even she was young once.” Red Harvest looked at Samuel, still having a hard time driving with the heavy weather. “We all were, at one point.”

Silence fell upon the vehicle. Neither of the passengers looked at each other, as if they were submerged in deep thought. Maybe reminiscing of past days or trying to think about their current predicament and how to move past it. And again, they were tired and grumpy. In the middle of all this silence, Kaito asked his last question. “What happened to your car anyway? The nice one I mean.”

This one was answered by his teacher. “I lost it when the river overflowed. I could probably get the Association to retrieve it, but it might be better to leave it. Assassin might need it more than us.”

The boy sat back down. “Too bad, it was a cool car.”

Samuel let out a big sigh. “Yeah, it seems we can’t have pretty things.”

***

It took them a few more hours maneuvering around all the roadblocks and police. By the time they were clear, they were all drained from so much travel. For many of them arriving at a roadside inn could not have come any faster. They rented two rooms for the whole group, split by gender, of course, and got together to hold a quick meeting in the men’s room.

“We should call the Dean ourselves.” Evelyn was the first to put the idea on the table. “We can’t run around the whole countryside without considerable backing.”

To put his counterpoint as simply as possible, Samuel stated. “I say we are fine like this. We have a good enough lead if we can get Archer to track his Master.” Their path might not be clear and their clues were scarce, but this was their one and only ace in the hole. The one factor not even the Association knew about.

“Yes, that’s another point!” The girl jumped at the chance. “Why keep this a secret? If we have Archer then it’s better if we use the Association’s resources. They must know a way to find a Master by using a Servant.”

“Yet  _ they _ have been so keen on lying to us from the start. Not even telling us the Grail is inside a little girl. Who knows what else they have been keeping from us?” Before this discussion could erupt into an argument between the two of them, Roberta cut in between them.

“If there’s no other point, I say we take a vote.” She cleared her throat before following with. “Who wants to call the Dean right now and explain our situation completely?” She was the first one with her hand up, followed by Evelyn.

With an awkward cough, Kaito raised his hand. “Sorry, sensei. We can’t keep running in circles forever.” So they were three for it and one against it. Samuel still figured might still get lucky and get a tie.

Surprisingly, even though he was probably the most suspicious about everything before, Red Harvest raised his hand, with an excuse to follow. “We might still have a chance to get the Grail and deal with the enemy if we act quick.”

The only one that kept her hand down was Xiang. “I still think we should deal with the other faction before going for the Grail. Tackle the biggest threat first.” She knew quite well she wouldn’t gain any support, but sharing her point of view was never a bad thing.

With the poll very clear, Roberta moved on to the next step. “Alright then, who wants to make the call?”

With no one jumping to the chance, “I’ll do it, just help me clear some space.” Red Harvest began scribbling some symbols and shapes on a piece of paper while the rest of them moved things around to give him enough room. The shaman placed the piece of paper on the floor and the room’s TV on top of it, the machine still hooked to the wall socket.

The shaman began chanting as he turned on the TV and tuned it to static. “Let’s hope the rain doesn’t interfere too much with our signal.” The machine began changing channels at a fast pace, never staying more than a second on the same channel, and the static soon turned into a grainy image of the Dean. Now they just needed to keep the channel open long enough for them to say what they wanted.

“What is it? You have something to report?” By now he had calmed down enough to keep his tone of voice professional rather than stern.

With Red Harvest having to focus on the spell, the task of explaining everything fell to Samuel. First though, they need to be on the same page. “What happened to the Professor’s Servant when he died?”

Taken aback by this question, having basically come out of nowhere, the Dean began looking over some of his notes. “He was lost during the fight. That’s all we know. I never saw him myself but I always thought it weird he summoned an Archer for protection.”

Evelyn chimed in with a question of her own. “Do you at least know the identity of this Servant?”

Pondering that question over. “No, I only know the Professor used an old book of fairy tales to summon him. The kind they make first editions out of.” With their side already having asked two questions, the Dean’s curiosity was piqued. “What’s all this about?”

“You see…” Samuel shifted a bit on his seat before continuing. “During the fight last night, someone else entered the battlefield to help us out. It was the Professor’s Servant, or so he says.”

Looking a bit dumbfounded now, the Dean took a moment to process that before getting up from his seat and disappearing out of view. Not much time later, the Dean returned and closed the blinds behind his desk before continuing their conversation. “What else do you know about this Servant? How is he even alive with no Master?”

With the tone suddenly turning so serious, Samuel did the same, deciding to keep taking the long road to the point of it all. “He found a new Master, but let’s go back to that later. This Servant, he told us that he has been keeping the Grail safe this whole time, ever since the attack on the convoy…” The pyromancer began retelling Archer’s story just as the Servant had told it before to them. It wasn’t that long, and he still kept the true nature of the Grail a secret, wanting to see if the Dean would keep to his secrets. “Our Servants are keeping a close eye on him, maybe he can be of some help finding the Grail.”

The Dean had to take some seconds to process it all. A big piece of information was just placed in his lap and he had no idea how to work around it without some help from the rest of the Association. Not counting the fact the Masters knew more than they let on. “If Archer already told you his story, then I’m sure he told you about the Grail and its true form, right?”

Still not ready to disclose that point. “Would it matter?” Samuel asked, with a solemn face. “Does it matter what we might know, or might not know, about our objective?”

Deciding to be truly honest from now on. “I think by now you should know, or at least have it explained to you.” The secret was out anyway, no point on putting on appearances anymore. “After all, the Einzberns are, and have always been, the caretakers of the Grail. Even if they have no victories under their belt, that’s been their job since the days of Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern.”

Sitting on the sides, Kaito asked Evelyn with a whisper. “Who?”

Answering quickly as to not lose any part of the story. “One of the families that founded the Grail Wars.”

“After the Third Grail War, the family realized the Lesser Grail was too defenseless as an inanimate object, so they decided it would be better if it could protect himself.” This was secret history, so much so that not even the Dean had all the details. “They went through several tests and trials until they realized they could just break the Grail into pieces and transplant it into a homunculus. Problem solved.”

Knowing it was coming, Samuel said. “But…”

The Dean let out a small sigh. “All vessels have died once the ritual is complete. The Grail inside of them consumes their bodies to go back to its original form. From then on, the Lesser Grail communicates with the Greater Grail and the winner gets its wish; in theory at least.”

All Masters fell silent, realizing that girl’s inevitable doom. It was Red Harvest that broke the silence first. “Why would they do something so awful to a child?”

“That, I don’t know.” Again, he didn’t have all the answers. “What I do know is that she is half human, so maybe that had something to do with it.”

If, however, they had problems or doubts about that last statement the Masters were great at hiding it. This left Samuel an opening to ask his own inquiries. “Alright…. Anything else we need to know? I still think we might have a leak on our network.”

Rolling his eyes, the Dean responded. “I think so too, but that isn’t top priority right now.” There was a bigger threat. “You see, I’ve been having some extra pressure coming down from the representatives of the Holy Church. Yes, their doubts and worries have a solid ground to stand on, but it’s been increasing the last couple of days, and it exploded when they heard that the Grail is in enemy hands.”

Maybe that’s why their benefactor looked so weary and tired. “You think they’ll try to intervene?”

After hearing so many complaints and angry talks with the holy men, the Dean could confidently say. “No. The Magus Association still has a good reputation, enough to quell all their complaints. And particularly in America, their reach is not so strong. But our time is running out; even I can’t predict what they’ll do when they run out of patience.”

“We still have Archer, though.” Roberta spoke up. “That has to be our shortcut to the Grail.”

“Yeah but, that’s when our little mole problem comes into play.” The Dean explained. “If I send help to your side the news might get to our enemy. We already saw how dangerous that could be with the convoy, so we need to plan very carefully.” He leaned forward to deliver the final point. “Aside from us seven, no one on the Association knows the Professor’s Servant is alive; you can use that.”

With some reluctant looks running all around the room, Evelyn asked out of curiosity. “How?”

The Dean lifted his hand. “Your command spells. Isabel is Archer’s Master, right? The only thing she needs to do is call him using one of them.”

There was only one question. “Why hasn’t she done it if it’s really that simple?” Roberta suddenly grew scared of the possibility. “You don’t think she’s dead, right?” After all, that Servant only needs the Grail, not the girl around it.

“I think we’d know if that was the case.” Red Harvest chimed in. Their Servants would tell them if Archer were to suddenly disappear. “But we can’t wait for her to use the command, she might not even think about it.”

Yes, it was quite the predicament they all found themselves in. The Dean reclined on his chair and said. “I’ll try and hold the Church on my end as long as I can. Who knows, maybe they will be more understanding than I usually give them credit.” In regards to rescuing the girl, he offered. “Have some faith in Isabel though; she has known about the Grail Wars and how they work for essentially her entire life. As soon as she is able, she’ll make the call.” Still, it frustrated him that there was nothing else he could help with. “I’ll leave it up to you how you want to proceed from here. But please, try and make some progress, and keep in touch. Any news is better than nothing.”

On that last note, the call was cut, the TV turning off instantly. This left all the Masters to ponder about the load of information they just received. It was important to consider their next move carefully, lest they want to start another clumsy fight. “I think we should talk with our Servants first.” Xiang spoke up after being so quiet during the call.

Clicking his tongue, Samuel answered. “Yeah, that would be a good thing to do.” He went and picked something from his bag before walking into the bathroom. “Listen, we need to know our enemy’s next move, how to best use Archer to track the Grail, and if we need to keep moving or not. I’ll get to work on the first point and leave the rest to you.” He promptly closed the door behind him and the group could hear the lock being put on.

Luckily, it wasn’t that hard to decide who did what. “I have to go check on Rider. I’ll speak with Archer and see what we come up with.”

“I’ll go with you. See if Saber needs anything.” Evelyn got her umbrella and the car keys. 

After some thinking, “There’s a diner further down the road. Let’s find something to eat.” Roberta proposed something to the rest of them, as she grabbed her own keys.

“How does that help?” Xiang asked, more confused than wanting to be rude.

“I’m sure we can ask for directions there. Maybe find a town nearby to stock up before hitting the road again.” It was enough of a reason for Kaito and Xiang to follow along. It was already late enough and they could all use something to eat.

*

The drive into the countryside and the nearby wilderness was quick and painless for Evelyn, even under the pouring rain. The worst part of the trip was the walk from the car to the Servants. They had to keep a fair distance so as to go unnoticed, and to be able to respond to any emergency, so making a camp outside was their best option. Most importantly they had to do it on a dry surface now that they had an injured member to look after.

Their current camp was settled inside of a cave. It wasn’t too deep but it was dry, and the fire they made inside warmed the whole place. Aside from Rider resting by the campfire, and Archer keeping an eye out, only Saber waited inside for his turn on the watch. “Hey, are the women out on watch?” Red Harvest asked.

“Just Lancer. Caster said she was stepping out for a while after she came back from her rounds.” Saber was quick with his answer. “Come to check on us?”

Evelyn answered cheerfully. “Yes, and to talk.” She sat down between her Servant and Archer while the shaman checked on Rider. “How’s he doing?”

A mumble came from the covered Servant. “Better. I can move my fingers again.” He sounded a bit worn out, though that might’ve been the poison taking away his energy. “Don’t think I need the sword anymore.” He tried to give the weapon back to its owner.

But Saber declined. “Keep it, just to be safe. Now, what did you want to talk about?”

“It has to do with Archer, actually.” Evelyn moved to face the Servant in question. “You said Isabel is your Master; might there be a way for you to communicate with her? Maybe get some clues on where she is being kept?”

Archer hung his head low. “I’ve been trying for a while now; nothing from the other side.” Any way and method a Servant had of locating its Master had proven useless. “She is with a powerful witch right now, she must have a few ways to block any unwanted attention.”

“Not a command seal…” Red Harvest spoke up from his side. “No matter what kind of magic she is using, if your Master were to call you by using one of her seals, you would hear it and come running.”

Archer thought about it for a second. “Then why hasn’t she done it? She must have had plenty of opportunities to do so.” That was the big enigma. “Are you sure there’s no way to block the seal?”

“Positively.” The shaman answered. “I actually don’t think we are talking about magic here. You can prevent a Master from using its seals by gagging him. The girl must be bound at the moment.”

“If that’s the case, rescuing her is even more important!” Evelyn talked toward Archer. “There has to be a way to find the witch before she does anything to her.”

“And we will.” Saber tried calming Evelyn down. “This Servant must be desperate if she’s called such a long rain to cover her tracks.”

“Still…I can’t stop thinking about her…” With that pained expression on her face, Evelyn retold a memory she just remembered. “I met your Master before.” It was something so small that happened way earlier in this war, it seemed so clear in hindsight but she had forgotten it until now. “I never saw her face to face, but we talked a bit in Mexico. She sounded so young, she doesn’t deserve whatever has happened to her.” Not to even consider whatever might happen to me in the future.

Saber tried again to be comforting. “Nothing will happen to her, she has all of us to look after her. We will find her.”

Archer was quite sure about that. “I have only known her for very little time, but I can tell she is a tough person. She will survive this.”

It didn’t help Evelyn calm down, but at least it gave her some resolve. “I sure hope so.” There was nothing much they could do about it for now. She turned to Archer. “Can we do something for you? Bring you some new clothes maybe?”

Archer looked taken aback by that question. He had already noticed some of the Servants of this group wearing casual clothing, but the thought of changing his attire never crossed his mind before this moment. “Uhm…I don’t think there’s anything wrong with my clothing…”

The rest of the group were already inspecting his person, taking a better look at his equipment. “He won’t pass for a normal hunter in those. Then again, we don’t have any reason for stepping into the public right now.” Saber himself was wearing his casual clothing for comfort, so maybe Archer’s bearskin and hunting gear had the same effect.

Letting out a small sigh, Archer simply said. “Thank you, but I’m fine for now.” With nothing else needed at camp, their visit was done. Red Harvest still needed to finish his check up on Rider, so Evelyn stayed there for a while longer, talking with the two Servants, getting to learn all she could about their new companion.

***

By now, Roberta’s group was already inside the diner. They were looking around for a free table before a voice called them. “Hey, over here!” It was Caster, flagging them down from a distant booth.

Surprised, the three of them went over to her free table and Kaito greeted her. “I invited her to eat with us. She must be tired of running around the forest all day.”

“I sure was. The rest of them are so used to the wilderness and the mud; can’t say I can handle it for long periods of time, myself.” True. Her place was around people and the stage. “Anything new?”

While they looked at their menus, Roberta answered. “We are moving out soon, but we still don’t know where.”

“I say we make a stop in a quiet town. The rustic air might help us clear our minds.” It might also let Caster practice her craft, for fun.

While they were laying their options out, the waitress came to take their orders.They all had a pretty good idea of what they wanted to eat, so it was a fast event. But while they waited for their food, Roberta got up to do some legwork. “We don’t know anything about the area. I’ll ask around the counter, maybe some of the truckers can tell me something useful.” She then went off; the place was full of off-duty men so she had to do this fast before they left or her food arrived.

This left the three of them to speak amongst themselves. “How about your wounds, Xiang?” Her fight was just a few days ago, but her clothing that covered her bandages helped to pass inconspicuously.

Keeping her answer short. “Better. The rain is not helping, though.”

Sensing this meeting was going to be a long one if he didn’t find a good topic to talk about, Kaito decided to ask something he’s been keeping in his mind until now. “Hey, I mean…My sensei told me he called your temple to ask for help. Have you worked with him before?”

Now giving him her full attention. “Not me. My old master did, however.” She initially meant to leave it like that but to her own surprise she spoke further. “My temple is not that unusual compared to the other ones around the country. The monks spend their time perfecting martial arts and meditating on enlightenment. Yet, the temple still needs money.” Of course, whatever money didn’t go to the temple could also be used to help others. “My master was one of the only monks allowed to take bounties, or help the Magus Association from time to time. Never something that could impact the temple in a negative way.”

“Are you also one of these monks?” Caster asked.

“Yes, but only just recently was I allowed.” She paused to catch her place. “I remember when a man with a scar running down his face came to stay with us while his wounds healed. I heard he got injured while protecting my master during a fight. I never talked to him but I reckon he was our Samuel.”

And it was a nice story, although not that much of a story really. Yet it put a smile on Kaito’s face nonetheless. Enough to give him some courage to ask. “Just how strong are you?”

Pondering that abstract question for a while. “It depends on what you consider strong. Strong willed, sure. Strong of mind? Can’t say. I’m still too young for that.” Her secret temper notwithstanding. “Strength of body? I can’t say either. My master used to do farm work with only his hands, he would uproot whole trees with no tools when clearing the fields. I really can’t see myself reaching his level.”

Maybe Kaito could reword his question. “You ever lost a fight?”

She sat there thinking. “Not against an enemy, but the elders at the temple were always several steps above me. I haven’t fought them in a long time, though. But yeah, never against an enemy out to kill me.”

“I’m sure you’re just talking yourself down, dear.” Caster finally spoke up. “I have seen you fight. You are way above master level.” She got no reaction from the woman, not even a negative one. “Then again, I’m not a fighter myself.”

Now it was her turn to ask. “What about you? Ever been in a real fight before this war?”

“Not really. I helped Sensei around his assignments, but never took a part in the fighting.” His mood turned a bit gloomy. “I wished I could fight like you. It would be nice to add more physical techniques to my arsenal; something aside from magic.”

Xiang thought about her companion’s predicament. “A Buddhist monk once asked, ‘Why is it that a man of great strength does not lift his legs?’ And he also said, ‘It is not the tongue he speaks with.’”

Kaito and Caster were puzzled about those words. “What does that mean?” The boy asked.

Xiang smiled before answering. “It’s a koan, like a Zen riddle. The only meaning that matters is what it means to you.” Other than that, she kept silent. And right on time, it seemed, as their food arrived. Now they just needed to wait until Roberta came back so they all could eat together.

They wouldn’t have to wait long as Roberta had spotted one waitress bringing their food, so she ended the conversation with the man she was with and turned to the waitress behind the counter to order something to drink. Where she struck a quick chat with the man. “This place sure is packed.” She only ordered a glass of juice so her drink was done quick enough.

“And it will be for a while longer. People have no other place to be with the main roads closed.” Before the woman walked away with her glass, he added. “Cops are also aplenty, not that they have much work. Only a madman would step out with this much rain.”

Something about that comment struck something inside the woman’s mind. She turned around and smiled at the waitress. “Thank you for the drink.” She made her way back to the table with her companions. “Sorry for making you wait.”

“Don’t worry, the food is still hot.” Indeed, it had only been a few minutes. As they began to dig in, Xiang noticed something on Roberta’s face. “You heard something interesting while you were away?” She looked pensive, barely paying attention to her food.

Despite it being pointed out, her face didn’t change. “Maybe. I’ll have to think it over.”

“What’s the scoop?” Caster asked.

“It’s about this rain.” She could say that much at least. “Why hasn’t it stopped? That’s what is stirring me up.”.

*

Back in the motel room, Samuel had been glued to his radio ever since he entered the bathroom. The only way Assassin could communicate with him was through radio signals in Morse code, and they had a special way to encrypt them in case someone was hearing them. Samuel received a report from the Servant, as detailed and short as he could manage, that he wrote down and was now deciphering in silence. It was about half way through the message that the pyromancer realized it wasn’t anything big or important; mostly Masters’ movements and intel on them. It did give him a small point of interest that was unknown to him: a mysterious briefcase one of the Masters kept around. Other than that though, it was the usual trooper report. No word where they’d set up camp next. And he couldn’t send a message of his own back to Assassin, so that would have to do for now.

Samuel finished this assignment and decided to go out for something to eat, only to find both cars gone. He’d have to wait until either group came back then.

Luckily, the first group to make it back was Roberta’s. He met her outside and they talked while Xiang and Kaito went to their rooms. “I’ll wait for Harvest and Evelyn, maybe they haven’t eaten yet either.”

Well, as long as he had some free minutes... “I have been thinking. Asking myself something important.” She had had long enough to think it over. “Why hasn’t the rain stopped?” She stopped Samuel from talking, knowing he’d give a flippant response. “I know she used it to escape before, but that was what the river was for. Even if you say she is erasing her tracks while she runs away, again, the river has done that well enough already. There’s something more to this rain.”

Legitimately curious about where she might be going with this, Samuel raised an eyebrow. “What do you think it is then?”

Roberta continued her wild guessing. “What happens when it rains this hard for days? Roads get closed, police are busy all around, no one leaves their homes and schools are closed until further notice. What if this is what she wants?” She took a breath and kept going. “If no one goes out then it won’t be abnormal for people not to see each other for long periods of time. You’ll have no reason to suspect if you don’t see the neighbor’s kids playing outside.”

“I get the picture, just go to the point.” Samuel cut her off.

Roberta still needed to make one more point however. “That witch has lost a large amount of mana fighting us already. A good way to replenish it and quick would be to attack people while using the rain as cover.”

It was a sound argument, considering all the known information. “She also has Berserker now, so she’ll need mana for two.”

Now for the last part of her theory. “Yes, so what we need to look for is a big enough town to give her all the energy she needs, while at the same time small enough to make quick work of it.”

“Right, let’s check on the map. I’m sure we can find someplace like that.” They went back inside and pulled out all the maps of the area they bought. They looked over every town close to the overflooded river and figured out which one would be the target. It was pretty much a guessing game without more detailed information on the towns themselves. Worse yet, they were running against the clock, knowing every day that passed gave that witch more time to recover.

The more targets and possibilities they came across the later it got. Samuel and Roberta stopped their investigation when Evelyn came back from the woods. “What are you two doing?”

Both startled as if snapped out of a trance. “Just trying to plan our next move.” Roberta looked at the clock. “It’s already late. Sorry I kept you from your lunch.”

Samuel stretched in place and waved her off. “It’s fine, I’ll just grab something from the vending machine.” They began picking up all their papers, clearing up the bed for the girls to sleep. “I’ll leave you, but tomorrow we are gonna have to head off early. Think of where you want to go by then.”

Letting out a yawn. “Fine, I’ll take a shower before hitting the mattress, good night.”

Yet, the couple didn’t move from their seats, they could only share a little look between themselves before smiling and looking away from the other. “Alright, I’ll leave you women to rest.” After another round of goodbyes and goodnights, the pyromancer stepped out and into his own room, finding Kaito alone watching television. “Hey, you had fun?”

The young man was already dressed for bed; he just hadn’t found his sleepiness yet. “Well, nothing much happened today, but I enjoyed having lunch with the girls.”

The old magus looked around and found no sign of their other male companion. “Where is Harvest?”

Kaito turned the TV off before answering. “In the bathroom, you just missed him.” In contrast to his younger companions,  _ he _ was more than ready to go to sleep now, tired as he was after everything that had happened. “What’s the plan for tomorrow?”

Samuel began to get himself ready for bed too. “We are getting up early and moving to a nearby town. I don’t know which. That’s up to Roberta now.” Even though they were all tired, he had enough energy for one last argument. “And don’t think you’re getting a bed tonight.”

Kaito jumped in his place; he really thought that wouldn’t be an issue that night. “C’mon, I’m really tired!” The rooms had two beds for three people, it was a no brainer one of them would have to sleep on the ground. Or share beds, which none of them was too keen on doing, except him. “What’s the matter with sharing anyway?”

“The bed’s too small as it is already. I’d prefer the floor if I had to choose.” Luckily, he didn’t have to. “You’re my student and Harvest is your elder. Show some manners.” Kaito could only grumble, he knew quite well there was no convincing him. “I’ll give you a pillow and a blanket, just give me a second.”

With nothing more to discuss, all of the groups got ready for the night. Either to sleep like the Masters in their rooms, or staying on high alert like the Servants keeping a watchful eye on them. Everything went on like normal, the night passing fast and the never-ending rain never hindering their much needed rest.

***

Next morning, as early as the sun arose, the Masters were up and preparing themselves for the day ahead. Trying to avoid a repeat of the day prior, they tried to be on the road before the morning passed. They felt in high enough spirits to stop for a quick breakfast, confident that time was on their side. After maneuvering around closed roads and following the information put together by Samuel and Roberta, the group arrived at a small town. They searched the outskirts first to make sure their target wasn’t hiding there and asked around about anything suspicious that might be going on or any strange people they might have seen (aside from themselves, of course).

Trying to make good use of their time and having a lot of ground to cover meant they didn’t have the time to go looking for a place to stay until long into the afternoon. They reviewed every piece of information and investigated any leads. After checking every possibility and turning any rock for a hiding place, the group stayed the rest of the day in that town just to make sure.

They repeated the same process again the next day, starting in the first hours of the morning. Packing up and driving to the next town on their list, they repeated everything they had done with the first one: searching around town, talking with the sheriff, questioning the local townspeople, finding a place to stay and eat for the day. By this point it had been three days of non-stop rain and it was starting to take a toll on them all, especially when they had to move around the roads and sometimes wilderness.

Ever the caretaker for the group, Caster offered that they take some time to unwind that very night, and so they went out to eat together. With a local diner being the place chosen by all of them. The medium sized place was half full at the time, and they all welcomed this, as even the Servants were able to get a table to enjoy a change of scenery. Everyone agreed they deserved it the most. This diner was as you’d expect from any one around the country, next to an exit by the side of the highway, or near a small town. It barely bordered on what one would call “old”, but it had its share of experienced staff, red seats and the art deco details all around, as well as a jukebox blasting music at all times. All in all, it was a good and friendly atmosphere.

Kaito took the opportunity in the laid back atmosphere to ask. “You think we are on the right track?” Delivered while looking at Samuel but loud enough for the both tables to hear.

“Second town we’ve hit and still nothing; maybe third time’s a charm?” Roberta spoke up. While this was her plan she knew quite well how long it might take them going almost blind.

“One would think a wooden cabin with legs would be easier to find.” Red Harvest put his menu down. “Though, if she is feeding on people’s mana, she won’t go around advertising it.”

“Could she be using some other way to gather mana?” Caster asked from the Servant’s table, half-turned around with her head resting on the booth seat backing. “Camping until she is full sounds much easier than raising some chaos.”

“But not as fast.” Answered Evelyn. “It’s true, she needs the energy fast for whatever she’s planning next.” No one was interested in talking about this; trying to guess more of the Servant’s erratic behavior seemed like a foolish idea while they could still catch up and save me.

Again, on the Servant table, Caster asked. “What about our other friends?” It’s true that they had been leaving their more direct enemy unattended for a while now, and that worried the Servant. “I’ve had a bad feeling, not seeing them around for so long.”

“Yeah, it’s a bit unsettling how good they were at vanishing after our last excursion.” Lancer herself had a bad feeling running down her spine ever since they left the manor. “What do you think, Archer?”

“…” The Servant, who was sitting without his bearskin as to not attract too much attention, seemed out of it. Everyone had a good idea as to why. “I’m sorry. I spaced out a bit there...” Sure, they had all been working hard these past couple of days, enough for them to need unwinding with a nice meal, but there was always that little piece of information knocking on the back of their heads.

All of that was enough to silence both tables once Archer indirectly reminded them. Out of the silence came a simple question: “Do we have a plan of attack for when we do find her?” Xiang asked. It was the one thing they surely needed to have in set stone if they wished to have a fighting chance.

Samuel was the one to answer in between sips of his coffee. “Other than separating her from the cabin and Berserker, it’ll depend on the terrain, possible bystanders, and how strong the witch has gotten.” All in all, nothing much they could plan for at the time. Before any other questions could pop up, Samuel stood up from his seat, “I want to hear some music while I eat.” and walked directly to the jukebox.

But the monk still had more to say and she couldn’t wait for the pyromancer’s return. “Alright then. What about support from the Association? Everything should be good between us and the Dean now.”

“Probably. Samuel and I have been doing the reports each day.” Roberta answered. “They won’t offer anything to help our search unless something big happens that requires their attention. But we won’t be fighting that witch alone.”

At least there was  _ some _ good news. “Third time’s the charm indeed, then.” Xiang exclaimed and then they all could hear the music start, something to set up an easier atmosphere for dinner.

Once their food was delivered and all of them began to dig in, Kaito couldn’t stop himself from commenting after seeing Xiang’s meager plate. “How come you’re having a light dinner? Not that hungry?”

Still paying attention to her soup. “You don’t need to eat until you have filled up, only until you’re no longer hungry.” That’s how she had been doing it ever since she first arrived at the temple. “Don’t mind me, though. That’s just how I was taught.”

While it didn’t make him feel bad in any way, he still found it unusual, rather than weird. “It’s good letting yourself go from time to time though, especially if you’re with friends.” He wasn’t about to put pressure on it; that comment was just to reassure the girl that she could.

Thinking about it in between a big spoonful of her dinner. “Thanks, but I’m fine. More of a personal choice, really. I also don’t eat meat.”

Samuel chuckled at that. “The monk diet can be really hard. I couldn’t take it.”

And Xiang spoke again to clear things up. “It’s not the Buddhist teachings. Well, mostly. I just can’t stand the taste anymore.”

Hearing their conversation with full interest, Evelyn asked. “How come?”

“Mmmmmm…” Xiang thought about the best way to share this. It wasn’t that good a story for the dinner table. “I ate only meat when I was a child; it was the only way really. Kill something and eat it. By the time the monks took me in, all that killing left only a bad taste in my mouth.”

After some seconds of silence, Red Harvest spoke up. “Seems more a problem with your palate than the meat itself. We should look for a steak place, a real good one though.” Getting her something to eat that she hasn’t killed with her own hands might be a different experience.

The pyromancer was not able to stop himself from commenting. “For being all connected with nature and respecting animals, you sure eat a ton of meat, Harvest.” Samuel noticed this, maybe less now that the shaman was advanced in age, but he remembered that quite well from past experience.

After some short laughs around the table, and no comment from the shaman. “It’s not that, I can eat everything else just fine. Vegetable soup is my favorite.”

In the middle of their idle talk, the waitress came to talk to Samuel. Apparently, the man had a caller asking for him. “Wait here. It’s probably the Dean wanting us to check in.” He left the table to answer the call.

With her food already finished, Evelyn took the chance to stand up. “I need to step out for a little bit, won’t take long.” She needed to use the restroom and considering they might have to cut the night short depending on the Dean’s words, better to do it now than later.

Samuel took the call on the hallway telephone the place had. “Sam here, what do you need.”

To his surprise, the voice on the other side was that of his Servant’s. “Master, are you and the others inside a restaurant right now?”

“Assassin?” They had exchanged some messages here and there, but nothing about his current whereabouts or their destinations. “How do you know this?”

“Because I’m calling from the motel you are staying. Rather easy to find you after asking around.” He was still undercover on the enemy’s side, so that didn’t ease up the situation. “A small group was dispatched to look for you and apparently we got lucky.” This was much like Samuel’s group looking around for the Grail. The only difference being that the enemy had more people to spread around. “Listen, I can feed them some false intel so you have time to make it back to the hotel, gather your things, and leg it out of this town. But you have to do it right now. Maybe you can give the others the slip.”

The pyromancer pondered the situation over. “Tell me everything I need to know. Whatever it is you better say it, we don’t know when we will talk like this again.” It might already be too late for the group, but any piece of information they could share could be useful.

Evelyn meanwhile was taking her time on the toilet, preferring the clean restroom of the restaurant to the one back at her motel room. She didn’t have much to think about during her time alone and the silence only made her feel peaceful. That peace was cut short the moment someone knocked on the stall door, spooking her instantly. “Occupied.” She was quick to answer.

However, the other person knocked again, this time stronger. “You the Robicheaux girl, ain’t it?” This put Evelyn’s nerves on edge, especially being caught in such a vulnerable position. “Open this and come with me.” The female voice slid a brown enveloped under the stall door. Other than that, the person remained silent.

Quickly, Evelyn opened the folder and noticed all the photographs inside. Her surprise turned into fear as she looked through all of them. “What is this? Where did you...”

“It’s leverage…” The person answered. “You have to come with me if you want to learn more.” With nothing else to say, Evelyn gathered herself up and stepped out of the bathroom stall. Finding a red haired girl about her age waiting for her. “Let’s go, we’ll step out through the back door so none of your friends sees us. Hold off on calling your Servant for now. Don’t worry, we’ll ask for him later.” Grumbling, Evelyn followed behind her, holding that envelope with a tight grip.

Shortly after the two girls managed to sneak out with no problem, Samuel went back to the table to deliver the message. “Listen, our position might be compromised. We have to leave town now.”

Everyone understood this but there was one issue. “Evelyn is still in the restroom, we can’t leave without her.” Kaito beat Saber to point that out.

“Roberta, you go get her. We will be waiting by the cars.” Samuel was ready to make quick work of the bill. “Kai, you and Xiang go back to the motel and gather our things. And bring your Servants.”

Everyone was more than ready to bolt out of town, not wanting to start a fight in the middle of a full town, amongst other reasons. The only thing missing was Evelyn and Roberta. The potion maker took a while to come back out, but when she did it was with no girl by her side. “I can’t find her!”

Obviously surprised. “What do you mean you can’t find her?! She couldn’t have vanished from the diner.”

Her voice was now growing scared. “I looked all around, I even asked the staff, no one has seen her since she entered the restrooms.”

“Calm down both of you.” Red Harvest got between them. “If she stepped out on foot she can’t be too far away. Let’s get in the car and look around for her. Maybe she went to the motel.” However, it wasn’t only the three of them that could go searching for the missing girl. Kaito and Xiang had gone off with their respective Servants, Rider was still weakened, but Archer and Saber were more than able to help with the search for Evelyn. “You two…” Red Harvest gestured, only to find Saber missing from the lineup. “Where is Saber?!”

Archer and Rider looked around, puzzled as to when and how their companion snuck away. “He was with us when we exited the restaurant.”

This added more to the mystery, but it also managed to calm the group down. “Seems he already went off. At least those two are together.” This was the best case, and Roberta wanted to hope for it. “But we still need to find her. Let’s drive around, we might still catch them.”

Red Harvest let out a small sigh, not wanting to strain his Servant move than he had to. “Rider, you and Archer spread out, try to locate Saber. If you do, tell them to meet us at the motel.” The Servants disappeared with a leap upwards.

Samuel was already pulling around the remaining car. “We can’t spend anymore time waiting. Get in.” Roberta and Red Harvest got in the car, not bothering trying to avoid the rain, and they rode off, taking the long way back to the motel.

***

Time passed, the night descending into an awful darkness, and Evelyn had arrived to a spot up the nearby hills. Her guide made sure to keep close to her hostage as she led the way to this meeting place. The only light on the path was a magic light that floated over her head, and the only protection the pair had against the rain was a pair of umbrellas.

Keeping himself away from the light but following his Master close, Saber asked. “What are we doing here, Eve?” He had been called, with a Command Seal no less, and ordered to make it out of the group without being noticed and to follow her around. Nothing else had yet been disclosed. “Shouldn’t we have brought the others if we are fighting the enemy?” It was the only explanation for that mysterious girl’s purpose: leading them to an ambush.

Evelyn responded, still serious and tense, but not stopping her march. “I’ll explain to you when we meet their commander.”

“How are you so sure this is not just a trap?” At the very least he’d like to know that.

Evelyn showed him the envelope she was holding. “Because they want to talk with me. They would not have shown me this if that wasn’t the case.” There was another point Saber should know. “But it won’t be a totally peaceful meeting.”

Saber stayed in the shadows, though he knew their escort had already caught on to him. “What are you talking about?”

“They wanted you here too. They had enough to bring me alone with no issue, yet they still made me call you.” This had led her to one conclusion. “This is a challenge. I don’t know who our enemy will be, but you need to be ready for anything.”

Saber clutched his sword, psyching himself for the upcoming conflict. After what felt like an age of walking in the dark the red haired girl turned to Evelyn. “This is as far as I go, Mr. Denis will meet you up the hill.” Evelyn just stared at the girl as she walked back the same way they came, taking the light and hope with her.

It took Evelyn just a couple of seconds to prepare another magic light for herself. “Let’s go get this over with.” Master and Servant took a short hike ahead of them and met the man on top of the hill, under a lone tree and sitting beside a small table with an actual lantern resting on top of it. The blonde girl turned to her Servant. “Hang back, keep an eye out.”

Neither of them saw any other enemy around, so Saber saw no reason to let her go on her own. “I have to stick with you. If something were to happen to you…” He was stopped after noticing Evelyn’s intense stare; it was the first time he had seen her angry in their time together.

“I’ll be alright. You keep watch in case this is an ambush.” Not waiting for Saber to talk back, Evelyn walked up to the tree in the middle of the hill, ready to face the man and get her answers.

***

Back at the motel, Kaito and Xiang had made quick work of gathering everyone’s belongings. It was a fairly easy thing to do when all of them packed light for travel. At this time they were waiting outside their rooms for the rest of the group to come back, waiting under the stairs so the second floor balcony hallway sheltered them from the rain. With no news about their missing companion yet, and nothing else to do but talk, the boy spoke up. “Hey, I think I figured out your riddle.”

Xiang knew what he was talking about, and decided against telling him that you can’t really figure out a koan. “Alright. Tell me.”

He’d had a couple of days to ponder about it and this was the best he could come up with. “A man of great strength doesn’t lift his legs and he doesn’t speak with his tongue. He doesn’t need to act to get his point across. Great strength is your presence and experience doing the talking for you.” It wasn’t a perfect explanation, and it could do some work, but he still liked it. “Did I get it right?”

Again, not saying anything about the nature of this riddle, Xiang shrugged. “I like it. It’s a nice mentality to have. Not much Zen though.” He could do better, is what she wanted to say. “They sure are taking their sweet time. I thought we were supposed to be in danger.”

Even their Servants began to get restless; Lancer was bouncing a ball off a nearby wall and Caster was trying to keep her balance walking along the railing of the stairs. However, some good news came only a few seconds later when the rain suddenly ceased. All four of them had become so used to the sound of water falling that it took them a couple more seconds to notice. “Hey. The rain stopped.”

Xiang walked out from under the cover and looked up into the clearing clouds. “Yeah, I guess it did. Must be a good sign.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've been keeping up this far, thanks!


	14. The Encounter Under the Oak Tree

It was a clandestine meeting under a large oak tree. A small table had been set up, and on either side were Evelyn, Master for the Magus Association, and Denis, Master from Vox Nihili. For Evelyn, the point of this meeting was simple: she wanted to understand the meaning behind the envelope that had been so callously thrown under the stall door.

The girl started by angrily tossing the envelope onto the table, spilling a couple of pictures as it landed. “What is this?!”

The man, still visibly injured after his fight from only a few nights before, picked up a couple of the photographs and answered. “These are your aunt and uncle in Norway.” Setting them down, he grabbed another. “Your retired grandparents at their cottage.” Putting that next to the first few, he grabbed yet another. “Your cousins with your little nieces and nephews too.” Having no time to go through each of the pictures, Denis laid them all out for Evelyn to see. “These are all of your family members we have been able to locate since you joined the war. There are agents on standby near each of their locations, ready to attack once I give the order.”

Evelyn was one part furious and two parts concerned about this turn of events, but she dared not let it show on her face. “I know you want something from me then, or else you would have killed them already. What is it?”

The man raised one finger for a pause. “We want something from both of you.” He looked over to Saber, watching them both from a distance, ever on guard. “This is a challenge: our Saber against yours. And you can’t refuse. Obviously.”

Evelyn gave him the side eye and asked. “And where is your fighter?”As she finished her sentence, something landed next to her Servant, a dust cloud giving way to the hulking enemy Saber within.

“You can go and talk with your Servant before they start, but you will come right back here once you’re done.” The conditions set, Denis leaned back in his seat, staring off into the darkness.

“What about the others?” She gestured to the forest around them. Apparently she could tell that Denis wasn’t the only Vox Nihili member present.

Denis sighed and rolled his eyes. “If any of them decided to step in, let’s just say it wouldn’t be your Servant they would be worried about. Now go.”

The girl, still put off by the sudden appearance of the enemy, approached her companion to try to explain. “How are you feeling?” Saber was already in a fighting stance, hands on his sword, more than ready to start the fight as soon as the enemy moved wrong.

Not taking his eyes from the enemy, who was then doing stretches. “What’s going on, Eve? This doesn’t feel like an ambush.”

Knowing this had to be explained fast, she took a large breath. “They brought a fighter. He is here to fight you alone. But that’s not the important thing…” She turned him around to speak face to face. “They are threatening my family and I still don’t know what they really want from me.”

“Maybe this is just a challenge; a fight to the death.” Though that didn’t explain everything about their fascination with Evelyn, it really could be that simple. “Whatever it is, you can be sure that I’ll dispatch him before they can harm your family.” Finally unsheathing his sword and facing his enemy, he asked while still facing ahead. “Please, stay back while we fight.”

Still worried, Evelyn reached for her Servant. “Don’t take any risks. Try and end this as fast as possible.” Unable to do anything more, Evelyn turned her gaze downcast and went back to the tree to continue her talk with the enemy Master. As she sat down again she sneered at her captor. “Alright; they are going to fight. What else do you want?”

Fixing his seat to have a better look at the fight, the bald man only stretched out his arm to the pair of warriors, as if presenting a show. “Let’s just watch the fight for now.” It was an important part of this scheme, witnessing how this whole affair goes down. For many reasons it was in his best interest to not jump ahead to the next step.

Back with the Servants, Vox Saber had finished his preparations, although no weapon had been drawn. “I apologize that this is the first time we’re meeting in this conflict. One would think Sabers would be destined to fight each other.”

“So you sent a challenge instead of waiting to meet on the battlefield naturally? Are you that eager for a fight?”

The blond man shook his head. “I have had my fair share of fights against your companions already. No, what made me want to fight you is pride alone. There can’t be two Sabers in this world. We must know who is the strongest one.”

Tensing up at the sound of those words, Saber ground out a response. “So this is just a fight of ego for you?”

“Whatever you say.” Vox Saber didn’t even think that question over. “I’ll fight as long as there are enemies standing. That is reason enough for me, and if my intuition is correct, it should be reason enough for you too.”

Saber scowled, insulted by that comment. “Don’t group me with your barbaric ways of thinking. Spilling blood should be the last course of action.”

“Yes, for normal people perhaps, but not for warriors like us.” Vox Saber’s words were slowly creeping in as much as he himself was creeping closer to his opponent. “Further, there is something else that isolates us even from the rest of them. We are not only warriors. We are kings.”

Saber was surprised at this new information, and doubly so with his opponent sounding so especially sincere in that statement. Still, he didn’t feel this camaraderie that his enemy was pushing. “So what? Warrior Kings are aplenty.”

Vox Saber let out a small chuckle. “True, that…” before dropping the smile and putting on a serious face. “But none like us.” He grabbed his shield from behind his back and let it down on the ground. “I heard it from Lancer himself, about your bloodlust.” There was an intensity in his eyes, but his face looked quite solemn as he spoke. “We are the same in that regard. We come from times when men skilled at battle could be kings and be loved by everyone. But those were just the circumstances playing us. In truth, the only thing warriors like us enjoy is the fight.”

“I don’t.” Deciding not to argue with him, and to just state the facts of his life, Saber spoke calmly and with no anger in his voice. “I enjoyed my life outside of war and bloodshed.” Remembering the good times he had with his family, he smiled. “All the blood I spilled was never in vain, or for selfish reasons. And certainly not for pleasure, like you’re insinuating.”

His serious expression unchanging, Vox Saber continued looking right at the enemy in front of him. “That’s not true.” With Saber reacting to his refusal, he could not accept those words after meeting him face to face. “I’m sure that’s what you honestly believe, but I can tell you, that’s not true.”

Not wanting to blow off to his enemy right there, Saber took his stance. “If you won’t listen to reason, then I’ll make you understand with my sword.”

Going back to smiling from ear to ear, Vox Saber dropped his chest piece and every other piece of armor that covered his upper body. “That’s what I want to hear. Come at me with everything you have!” Summoning his sword with the flick of his arm. “I am Beowulf, King of the Geats, slayer of monsters and dragons, and the Angles’ oldest Hero. Would you accept my challenge with your real name?”

Tensing up, Saber answered in true form. “I am Charlemagne, King of the Lombards and the Franks, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, leader of the Twelve Paladins, father of Europe, and I accept your challenge.” Both combatants kept their stance, unmoving for a mere moment before blasting into each other, immediately locking swords, each struggling to gain ground against the other. And the moment they broke the lock, the resulting blowback generated a surge of wind between them, sending both Servants a few steps back.

Not letting his enemy react, Vox Saber pressed on the attack, with the point of his sword forward and ready to strike the enemy’s torso. Yet, being so obvious with this attack, Saber was able to parry the attack before it landed, breaking the enemy’s sword the moment their weapons clashed. As a follow up, taking advantage of this turn of events, Saber tried connecting his next slash with his foe’s chest.

Though it would seem too late to normal eyes, Vox Saber managed to jump back to a safe distance. The Servant checked the handle of his broken weapon, amazed at his enemy’s swordsmanship. “Broke it in two swings, that’s one mighty sword arm you carry.”

Not letting his stance drop, Saber asked, intrigued at that reaction. “You don’t look that hung up on losing your weapon.”

“I have more where that came from.” Throwing his broken handle away, Vox Saber clapped his palms and produced another one from nowhere. “You shouldn’t hang all your hopes on that sword. Tools made out of metal are not that reliable.”

Even more perplexed at that sentence. “I would have never imagined a Saber Servant speaking those words. Have you no pride in your weapons?”

Vox Saber was busy making sure his new sword was up to standards, trying to guess if it would resist more than two swings from his enemy. “I have faith in my own strength and body. A sword is nothing if the arm that wields it is weak.”

“I can understand that sentiment at least…” Though he could not agree with all of it. “But my Joyeuse is part of my soul. I couldn’t see myself discarding it as easily as you do.”

Vox Saber took his battle stance once more. Without saying anything, the Servant jumped high up and grabbed his sword with both hands, but Saber could easily predict it and braced himself for the blow, sword first. The blond Saber clenched his teeth and put all his muscle strength into this downwards attack.

The strong blow, with the added power of that jump, made for a tremendous clash between them. A tremor destroyed the area around them, forming a small crater under Saber’s feet, burying him even deeper into the ground. Even moreso, the attack was strong enough to bring the noble knight to his knees, both arms shaking even minutes after the attack ended. Nevertheless, he had held up strong, the enemy’s sword never coming close to him. Incidentally, Vox Saber’s sword was obliterated at the moment of impact, leaving nothing but the hilt behind, while not even a small dent existed on Saber’s sword.

Clearly surprised, Vox Saber lost all seriousness for an instant. “Huh, I thought that would be enough to break your weapon.” Not that his attack was completely ineffective; his enemy still couldn’t regain footing, and he could always create another weapon to keep going. But before he did that, “Brace for it!” His enemy was too open for him not to take advantage, so he delivered a big swing right to Saber’s face.

It was like nothing he had felt before; something akin to a battering ram. Saber was sent flying backwards with just one attack. The Servant could feel his nose breaking and the blood flowing even before he felt the ground. Then he felt nothing. His whole face had gone numb by the time he recovered enough to see. Refusing to give his enemy time to think, Vox Saber closed the distance with a single leap, this time delivering a knee to the stomach. As they got up Vox Saber tried to cut past Saber’s armor with another one of his summoned swords, but that was easier for Saber to counter, disarming Vox Saber and thrusting forward, barely cutting the side of his neck.

It could be said that the sight of blood on his opponent gave him renewed vigor, for Saber’s next strikes followed up swiftly and without mistake. Like the expert swordsman he was, the Servant’s form and stances were spot on, pushing Vox Saber to the defensive, trying to evade the sharp steel.

Soon enough, cuts and blood covered Vox Saber’s body. Growing frustrated, the Servant tried with all his force and cunning to fight back. Be it punch, kick, or more swords, Saber appeared to be able to read all his moves, and plan his counterattack in advance. The blond Servant was lucky enough to even catch Saber’s sword at one point, thinking to hold his enemy in place for a couple of seconds, only to have Saber let go of his sword and carry on with a flurry of fists. He struck Vox Saber in quick succession around the torso and head before ending his combo with an elbow to the face that pushed his enemy back and made him drop the sword. Which was quickly caught by Saber before it even hit the ground.

However, instead of going back to the quick slashes like before, he tried ending this with his Noble Phantasm. Not at full force though, as he had no time to fully infuse his sword with enough mana, and had only a couple of seconds to deliver this attack. Saber put in all the energy he could muster. This was about precision right now. His target was Vox Saber’s head, and he had already proven he was faster than his foe, so his only focus was to hit bullseye. Letting the full force he had gathered into his enemy, a torrent of magic energy blasted into Vox Saber’s face, landing a good hit on the lone Servant.

The dust settling on the battlegrounds revealed one tired Servant, clearly exhausted after that display of power, and his enemy standing proud, just a few meters back from where he was before the attack. Vox Saber’s body emanated smoke and fresh wounds kept appearing, yet still he smiled and his stance was unshaken. “That attack was too shallow, you won’t do real damage if you keep holding back.”

Trying to catch his breath, Saber questioned. “It was a direct hit, how can you say that?” Just then did Saber notice all the wounds he caused centered around the enemy’s arms and hands.

“I decided to gauge your power.” Showing his bleeding hands to him. “A bare handed catch, and I have to say, I’m a little disappointed. This is supposed to be a real fight.” Without warning, Saber moved forward to continue his attack, only for the blonde Servant to parry his blade and land a massive blow to his face, a full handed slap that knocked Saber down and shattered the ground beneath them.

Recovering as fast as possible while putting some distance between them, Saber got up and cleaned his face, that slap covered the left side of his face with blood. “Your tricks won’t work against me.” Pointing right ahead with the tip of his sword. “I deciphered your Noble Phantasm. Your own blood is a powerful poison, that’s why my comrades have been failing when facing you. Even when you talk big about fighting like warriors you use tactics like this. It’s repulsive.”

Vox Saber began to inspect his own hands, with a serious expression on his face, and sighed. “Yes, but that’s not by choice. If I had it my way, this wouldn’t be part of my power.” He clenched both fists before adding. “Honestly, I think destiny screwed me over.” He kept talking, sensing Saber was intrigued by his words. “I had no memories of where my spirit was before being summoned for this war, just flashes of time, but once I took form I could sense something was wrong with my body. That this isn’t how it’s supposed to be, my own Master seemed surprised at seeing me. I felt slower and weaker. Older too, and what should come natural to me no longer did.”

“So what, you’re saying you’re not the real Beowulf?” Saber asked. To him, it sounded like his opponent was having an identity crisis.

“Not exactly. I do have his memories, it’s just…” He tried his best to explain his bizarre situation, with an answer that had been eluding him for a long while. “Would you believe if I told you I was summoned in the wrong class?”

Now ready to keep fighting, Saber had one last question. “And what does that have to do with me?”

Dropping the smile again, he replied. “Because I keep fighting. My body might be weaker, and I have to use every ploy available, but I still give my all, even if I can’t use all my power.” Now pointing at his enemy with an angry expression. “And you, that has no excuse for holding back, still do it! Your body and mind are still the ones you’re used to, yet, you dare hide your true power against the enemy!” Dropping his finger but keeping the angry glare, his cadence began to increase. “I know you have so much power in you, so why is this fight still going?” Mustering the scariest voice he could, he uttered, almost under his breath. “I truly hate you.” Though they were kindred spirits in some ways, this was something Vox Saber could not allow.

Taken aback by those words, Saber stammered out “Now, I…” only to be cut off by the enemy.

“I hate your self-righteous attitude even more than I hate this body I was cursed with! Had I kept my original strength, I would have ended you already for insulting me like this!” The Servant was growing so furious that the Earth itself shook as he stewed in his own emotions. Then suddenly, he calmed down, looking normal once again. “Lucky for you, I’m willing to forgive you. The only thing you have to do is show me your true self…”

This time it was Saber cutting  _ him _ off mid-sentence. “I already told you, that version of me you think exists is in your head. I’m not some bloodthirsty monster like…” Before he could end that sentence though, Vox Saber had already closed the distance between them and struck him hard in the face, again dropping him to the ground.

While he had the enemy still down. “Unlucky for you, I’m willing to beat you to death if it gets you to do it.” And his expression showed nothing but the truth. As Saber tried to regain some footing, his enemy pounded him to the ground once more, completely set on not giving him any ground to recover.

And Saber had a hard time thinking straight. There was no time for him to come up with a new strategy, and every time he tried, his enemy would change movements and cut off his route. His instincts started kicking in, telling him to gain some distance, so he followed with the simplest of strategies he could follow. He grappled the enemy down with a fast throw, slamming the Servant on his back and giving enough time for him to jump back a few meters. Now that he was a safe distance away, Saber began gathering energy, with the full intent of using his Noble Phantasm once more.

To his surprise, the enemy didn’t pursue. Vox Saber decided to hang back and surprise his opponent with another trick of his own. Preparing a fresh sword and gathering mana just like Saber. When compared in real time, it was hard not to see the similarities between them. “You thought only you could do something like this?” Vox Saber explained. “This might not be a Noble Phantasm, but I can deal as much damage as any of your attacks.” He not only imitated the technique, but matched the enemy in power by the look of things. Soon enough, both Sabers had their swords charged with magical energy.

Saber was more than sure that an imitation of his Noble Phantasm would not stand against him, no matter how much they looked alike. More than confident of his power and weapon, the Servant let out a huge scream before attacking, Vox Saber doing the same shortly after. Both attacks met in the middle of that field, colliding in a huge explosion of raw power.

Once that passed though, Saber was free to see how useless all of that was. The torrents of matching energy nullified each other after a couple of seconds. Leaving Saber in a confused state. That was his most powerful attack, maybe not at full strength, but it did nothing against his opponent. For the first time in this fight he felt completely lost. Lost for thoughts and words, one could call it surprise or panic, but he did not move from that spot for a couple of seconds. Seconds in which he was left open for an attack.

“Now imagine what you could do if you stopped fooling yourself.” Suddenly ramming into Saber’s chest knee first, sending him falling backwards. As his enemy took some time to recover on the ground. “What made you cast aside that part of yourself? You must’ve been an amazing fighter before it happened. Weren’t you?”

***

While Vox Saber dominated the fight, the bald Master groaned, shuffling in his seat, unsettling Evelyn as he did so. The girl had been sporting a smile during the first part of the fight, seeing her Servant winning and all, and now that the tables had turned, she thought the enemy Master would be the one with a smile on his face. However, Denis seemed even more annoyed at the turn this fight had taken. Enough to rush his plan forward, pulling some small device from his coat. “You know what this is?”

Evelyn could only see a small, electronic device that fit in the palm of his hand. “We magi are so dependent on our spells and enchantments, it’s no surprise we often lose sight of modern advancements.” He moved it into the light so she could see it with more clarity. “It’s a pager.” Fidgeting with the small thing before showing it again, he continued. “With this I can send a signal to my people nearby, and they in turn will send a signal to our forces in Europe. We have timed this and I can tell you it’ll only take about twenty five seconds for my signal to reach Europe.” A combination of technology and magic, in the most barebones kind of way, but it was reliable. “It won’t take more than half a minute for me to kill any of your family members.”

That sentence made the girl flinch in place. “Show me your hand.” The Master ordered, and Evelyn complied. “You still have all your Command Seals.” Holding the pager away from her in case she got any ideas, he finally said. “Order your Servant to commit suicide.”

Those words weighed heavily on Evelyn’s shoulders. She obviously knew the consequences of saying no, but she couldn’t push herself to do it. “Why…” Dreading this next question, the girl still felt she had to at least throw it out. “Why would you go out of your way to challenge us if you were going to do this from the start?”

It was a legitimate question, and Denis was not unwilling to answer. “That wasn’t my decision. It was Saber’s” It was the main issue with this Servant, and nothing could be done about it. Once their Saber got something in his mind, nothing would change it. “He asked us to let him have a fight with your Servant and to forget our original plan. But…” He trailed off as he turned back to the fight, now with both Servants standing on even ground again. “This fight has gone on for far too long.” By now he couldn’t be sure his side was going to win. “The decision is up to you, anyway.” As Evelyn gave him another surprised look, he gave the ultimatum. “You can keep the fight going, which could go either way, and sacrifice your family, or end it right now while I can still promise their safety.”

It was a dreadful thought; one big enough to send chills down Evelyn’s spine. The whole world around her collapsed into just her and the fight happening a few meters from her. Due to her own lack of experience and certainty, not even she could predict the outcome of the fight, especially now that it looked so evenly matched.

Still, this was her duty. She had done nothing to prove she deserved to be fighting in this war, merely being chosen by the Association. Apart from spying on her own group, neither she nor her Servant had done anything to aid the group in battle. Isn’t that what a Master should do? To fight no matter the stakes for his faction? She was duty bound to this task and to run away from it was an outcome worse than death.

What snapped her out of her deep thought process was Denis’ sneer. “I can see there’s doubt on your face. I’ll make it easier for you” He pulled the pager again. “From the moment I send this signal, I can call it off in ten seconds.”

Panicking at that sight, “Wait…” Evelyn tried reaching forward, it was her first instinct to stop it. However, not being fast enough, she could only see as Denis’ finger pressed the button, looking her right in the eye and saying nothing else. With a heavy feeling sinking on her stomach, the girl knew her last ten seconds were running out.

***

The Servants had just escaped from a weapons lock and gained some distance. The exchanged blows and close combat attacks began to take a toll on Saber. He was trying hard to gain an upper hand with his skills like he did before, but was finding it much harder to do so now that his enemy was already familiar with his movements. And in addition to taking more surface damage, his armor cracking under the enemy’s attacks, it seemed now his attacks were ineffective against the enemy. He still landed some attacks of his own but none had enough of a punch to keep Vox Saber down.

As he tried to recover his breath, Saber began thinking about his situation and lamented the position he found himself in. True to his words, as much as Vox Saber wanted it, he had no bloodthirst in him…anymore. 

Trying to bury that part of his own self and leave it forgotten had always felt impossible for him, with every fight after fight during his life increasing the difficulty. However, he did eventually do it. He overcame that side of him, the part of him that enjoyed combat and war, the aspect of his personality that longed for battle. From a bloodthirsty monster to a true King, Saber had gone through an intentional transformation, swearing to himself under everything he held precious to never go back to the way he was. And no matter how much he felt tempted, even wishing it, he had never backed down from his word.

Now, in this moment, he was sure this was a losing fight. No matter how much ground he recovered, his enemy seemed more than capable of pushing him back tenfold. As much as it pained him to accept it, the only way to overcome this obstacle was to go back to the way he was, leaving behind his civilized self to match the mindset of this barbarian in front of him. Saber clenched his whole body, with a decisive look on his face aimed towards the enemy. “Oh, I like that look on your face.” Vox Saber commented.

Saber reminded himself of one crucial point. He overcame that savage nature inside of him, being able to do great things in spite of it. Going back to relying on that nature didn’t prove him a hypocrite. “I’ll show you what you want. My real nature.”

Now beaming, Vox Saber answered. “Your nature…” It almost brought tears to his eyes, knowing his enemy was finally taking this seriously. Remembering how everyone shared his enjoyment of battle, and imagining how lonely his opponent must have felt in a time where that wasn’t allowed. “A person can change all he wants throughout his life, but he can never change his born nature.” That’s when he took a deep breath, making sure his lungs filled up with all the air they could take before letting out a loud scream to the sky above them. Once that was over. “Come at me, King Charlemagne, I’ll take the full force of your attack with my own strength!” It was only a matter to focus all his energy into his body. Much like before, he intended to take the blast directly, using only his physical strength to survive.

With a look of anger in his eyes, Saber pointed his sword right up to the sky and began gathering all the mana he could. Creating an enormous pillar of light in the middle of their battlefield, even bigger than the one he had conjured in Mexico, he meant to end this in just one strike. All the while Vox Saber stood firmly in place, gathering energy into his body. With the light emanating from the blond Servant’s body mirroring the beacon of light coming from Saber’s sword.

During each moment, while thinking it still wasn’t enough power, Saber could no longer control his impulses. He couldn’t stop himself from wanting to end his opponent. Repeating to himself ‘I’ll cut you down’ over and over, he focused energy into his sword until it was fit to burst. “ **Joyeuse!** ” Letting the full force of his attack into his enemy, there was now more than enough power to change the landscape, and the course of the war. Across the clearing, Vox Saber stood solidly strong, refusing to leave anything for his enemy.

Just like that, the match had become a battle of spear versus shield. If Saber couldn’t take his enemy out with this, he’d be too tired and at the enemy’s mercy. And Vox Saber had to keep holding out this massive force unless he wanted to be erased from the war in an instant. Slowly, but surely, Saber began winning ground with his attack, pushing the enemy Servant back as he advanced.

Vox Saber felt cornered at the time, as such a gigantic torrent of magic striking at him all at once proved itself enough to face him, even push him back. But he did not despair. This was what he wanted. “Yes, yes! Show me, Saber! Show me!”

Then, all of the sudden, that mighty force stopped.

Instantly knowing this wasn’t normal, Vox Saber stood in place, dumbfounded. He had felt himself start to lose, but surely there was more in store from his enemy. No, his equal. Not even letting the pain of his wounds settle, he looked up, starting to wonder if this was another trick, only to stare at his answer. “Saber…” The sight he was treated with was of his enemy falling to his knees and, upon closer inspection, he could see the enemy Servant had eviscerated himself with his own weapon. He lost his breath, staggering forward. “Why…Why would you…” Red was already encroaching on what had been glorious white armor.

As quickly as that happened, he could see Saber’s Master running towards him. “Saber!” Evelyn was already visibly crying and sobbing as he approached her dying Servant. “I’m sorry!” were the only words she could muster as she kneeled beside him. “I’m sorry! I did this to you. Please…Please don’t hate me! Please!”

For Saber, it all happened in an instant, going from liberating all his power to letting it go to waste and stabbing his own chest with his sword. It was a huge surprise to say the least, and left him confused. Any command from his Master could be fought against, even if it had been a losing battle, yet, the decision to take his own life came and went with no protest whatsoever.

Instead of growing resentful or angry towards his Master, Saber held Evelyn by the back of her head, blood running down his nose and mouth. “It’s fine…” He spoke so gently. “You saved me…From myself…” Even though he could not see any more he still looked at the girl eye to eye. “Had I continued on that path…I would have surely damned myself…” Taking all of this as a signal from God telling him to stop, Saber interpreted this as fate. Now feeling his very being fading away. “Evelyn…Be safe…Please…Don’t die….”

Those words falling on deaf ears, and Evelyn still in shock after all that happened, the girl could only hold her Servant as he disappeared into nothingness. A moment later, she sobbed so loud she shut down the rest of the world. Before she even knew it, Saber was no more, leaving her alone on that field.

Not giving her enough time to mourn, the enemy Master unleashed the next part of his plan, slashing Evelyn’s left thigh with his knife. “I called off our forces, your family is safe.” Noticing the gaze full of anger and grief the girl was giving him. “I never said you would be leaving with your life.” Losing her Servant meant nothing, Evelyn still had Command Seals at her disposal, which meant she still could call a new Servant for herself and continue on in this war. “Do not hate me. Hate yourself for not thinking ahead. Hate your friends for deserting you. Hate your family for being too weak to defend themselves. Hate the Association for putting you here. Do not hate your enemies when you fail, for they are the one true constant in war.”

He approached the girl with murderous intent, each step punctuated by another reason for her failure. He noticed how she was slowly dropping the defiant look in place for a pair of scared eyes, and Denis knew better than to think it was because of him. Already feeling trouble brewing just behind him, he turned around to meet face to face with the remaining Saber.

It was those eyes that told him enough. This was different from the hatred or frustration the Servant felt during his fight. Now his eyes emanated pure fury. Under the cover of the night’s darkness, it looked like a wild beast had snuck behind Denis and not a human. Before he could say anything, Saber grabbed the man by the neck with his right hand, lifting him up from the ground with ease. Trying to break free. “Saber…This was the plan all along…”

Not wanting to hear his excuses, Saber placed his left hand over his face, preparing to crush Denis’ head. As his grip tightened, the Servant suddenly stopped, as if someone began calling him from afar, and begrudgingly dropped the man to the ground.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t angry anymore though. “Go…” He signaled the man to get out of this scene. Sensing he was still going to fight this, he explained. “My Master stopped me from killing you, but I will not let you harm this girl further.”

Yet, this was not a matter to let go. “At least let me take her hand!” Denis yelled. Ultimately, it was the Command Seals he was after anyway.

The remaining Saber lowered to his face so quick it scared any protest out of Denis. “You already defiled my fight with a great warrior, I won’t let you sully his memory by harming his Master. All of you, leave!” The man put his head down, finding some comfort in knowing he got rid of one enemy Servant. With the Master slinking away into the darkness, the remaining Saber turned to the wounded girl. He felt conflict in what he really wanted to say, and how he wanted to say it. Never before had he felt this amount of sadness and anger at the same time. Unable to show any of them to the girl, his face remained blank. “He told you…” Evelyn flinching now that he finally said something. “Not to die…And to be safe. Follow that advice, you might not have another chance.”

So fast that Evelyn couldn’t react to it, Vox Saber cleared out of the field, making sure to bring any other member of his faction with him. Thus leaving Evelyn truly alone on that field.

***

It was that very same night, almost at the same moment, that I woke up in the witch’s cabin screaming. Whatever was used to put me under wasn’t strong enough to ease the pain I began feeling. It was like a bunch of knives stabbing me in the stomach from the inside out, wanting to burst out of my body. I thrashed and rolled around the bed until I fell down.

“What is it, girl?” Caster came running, seeing me holding my side in pain. “Let me check on you.” The Servant placed me on my back and began feeling my stomach, sensing with her fingers, looking around to see what was wrong with my body. Something not even I could understand, the clear explanation was the Grail residing inside of me, but never before had something like this happened. And it looked like Caster knew what the issue was, though she had no idea how to stop it. “I’ll give you something for the pain, it’ll help you to sleep too.” She quickly hobbled to the backroom to gather materials.

I looked around, trying to take my mind away from the pain, and noticed the whole room was empty aside from me. It seemed rather obvious that I should use this opportunity to escape, but the pain was never ending and I couldn’t even raise my head, getting up and running was also out of the question.

Realization only struck the moment I tried to push through the pain and stand up for myself, trying to use my right hand to lift myself up and noticing the unused command seals. Without thinking, not knowing how long it would take, or how good of an idea it was, I called out. “Archer…Come to my location as fast as possible!” With that, one mark vanished just as Caster was on her way back.

“What did you do!?!” Rushing to my side in anger and grabbing my hand by the wrist. Noticing the missing command seal. “Do you know what you just did?” She looked about ready to hit me but managed to swallow her rage on the last second. Instead, she opted to shove some flask down my mouth, holding my jaw open with her free hand. “Go to sleep while I handle this mess. It’s bad enough I can’t leave this town, now you called that animal here...” As the medicine ran out, so did my pain, and so did my consciousness.

***

The next thing Archer knew, he was hit with a sudden surge of magic and a clear picture of my location. “Miss!” He screamed, and before he jumped to action, he shouted to his surrounding companions. “I know where Isa is!”

The sound immediately caught Samuel’s and Red Harvest’s attention, they both asked. “What?!” It seemed they had the best luck. They had been following the pillars of light coming from that direction, sure that it was where they’d find their missing members, and now this fell into their laps. Thinking fast, weighing his options and the danger they were facing, Samuel judged that this couldn’t wait and Archer wasn’t about to do so even if that was a possibility. “You think Rider could go with him?”

It was the only way they could go on without worry. Red Harvest had to acknowledge that. Turning to his Servant, he simply said. “You go with him and find the girl. Stay out of trouble and contact us when you can.”

Archer didn’t even wait for Rider’s answer, leaping out of the scene. Rider, more than ready to follow behind, nodded to his Master. “Understood.” Thinking two expert hunters would be able to stay out of sight during their pursuit. He jumped high and away, leaving the Masters alone.

Now that the search party was at half strength, the men had to take extra precautions. Samuel took a deep breath and tried to loosen up. “Are you ready? The torrent of light we saw came out just over that hill.”

Red Harvest didn’t really want to do this now that they lost their Servants, but going back to town for reinforcements would be wasting too much time, and they had nothing left already, especially with their missing member in danger. “Let’s go, whatever happens we can handle it together.”

Sharpening their senses and keeping under the cover of night to avoid being detected, the two of them made it up the hill without encountering anybody. The night so silent it was easy to hear a faint sobbing from somewhere in the area. It could be a trap or it could be Evelyn. After all, the cries did sound feminine to them. “Can you see anything?” Samuel could very easily light a fire to make it easier for them to navigate, but he’d only do it if he wanted to get them caught in an instant.

It was far better to use Harvest’s magecraft to take a better look around. The shaman’s face showed black lines forming under and around his eyes, like makeup or paint growing on their own. “I hear the sobs, but I cannot see...” He signaled Samuel to stop and get down, spotting something moving a few meters away from them. “It’s the girl. I don’t see anyone else either. Should we approach her?”

With the coast seemingly clear, the pyromancer moved closer, making sure it was really Evelyn before getting her attention. Kneeling beside her and putting a hand on her back. “Don’t panic, it’s me.” She seemed on edge, even after she stopped crying. “Harvest is back there. Is the enemy gone? And where is Saber?” Evelyn said nothing, just looked down and kept looking flustered. “Can you walk?” Getting no answer in return, Samuel helped the girl up and they moved back towards their companion.

Having already taken the time to inspect their surroundings, “There doesn’t seem to be anyone else here.” Red Harvest took the girl’s arm and took her back to their vehicle. “You coming?”

Samuel knew they needed to make a fast getaway, as they surely weren’t the only ones that saw that magic explosion. “Give me a second, I have to take care of something.” Then lit up a small fire in his hand, looking for the best place to throw it. Maybe he could make it look like lightning struck the area, explaining the sudden light, and at the same time erase all trace they were there. It wasn’t much but it was the best he could do on short notice. The small fire turned into a big fireball that Samuel chucked near the old tree in the middle of the area. It wouldn’t make much damage with the still wet grass and humid atmosphere, but it should cover their exit.

Now that their time was limited, they had to question Evelyn in the car. She had already calmed down enough for her to speak, although with some tears in her eyes. The quick explanation she gave covered only how and why she was separated from the group. Ending with the conclusion to her duel. “Saber is dead...They forced me to kill him...”

With silence falling down inside the vehicle, the men very much wanted to keep questioning Evelyn about her night. But knowing now why she was so distraught and with only the barest idea of what she went through, they decided to give her some time to recover before continuing. There were other important matters to attend to, anyway.

***

After finding their lost member, the group quickly made it back to the motel to collect the rest of their friends and their luggage. Within a few minutes they were out of town and back on the road. Ever following Rider’s directions, They had split up into two cars, Samuel in the front car with Red Harvest and Xiang, with Kaito driving the second car with the two women in the back seat. The leading vehicle also had the task of planning upcoming strategy, while the back vehicle was more of an emotional rest place. Roberta did her best to give the distraught girl support, keeping her in a deep embrace for most of the trip, but Evelyn still was unable to restate everything that had happened in detail.

The remainder of the night was spent on the road, being led by their Servants while trying to remain unseen. The path they had originally mapped out back in the safehouse had been altered when they had entered that town, and greatly changed again by Archer’s new information. With the sun still hours away from being back up over the horizon, they paused at a gas stop to get some air.

Sensei and student walked into the station to buy some quick snacks and cheap coffee, as well as pay for the gas.”How are you holding up?” Samuel asked, knowing Kaito was probably exhausted from the abrupt late night exodus.

Looking around the shelves, he grabbed whatever looked tasty. “Fine enough, I guess. I just need to get something in my stomach.” He picked up several small sealed sandwiches and Samuel filled up a half dozen coffees, and with their hands full they moved to the register. “You think it’ll take much longer before we get there?”

Letting out a small sigh, Samuel shrugged. “We would have to know where ‘there’ is for me to answer that.” He paid quickly and thanked the late night worker, the pair walking outside to the rest of the team. “Wait a second, let me have a cigarette.” Ripping open the new pack, the pyromancer popped one in and lit up right there.

Thinking this was somewhat of a strange sight, Kaito asked. “I thought you didn’t smoke?”

Taking a puff of his cigarette, Samuel replied matter-of-factly. “I don’t. They are Roberta’s. I just needed a private moment.” Being a pyromancer meant he was always exposed to smoke, so this was a habit he generally discouraged. “Roberta passed it onto me when we were young, but I haven’t smoked around you much. Seems I never really got around to kicking the habit altogether.”

Well, they had a chance to speak now, and not about their mission. “How come you never told me you had a wife?”

“Mmmmm...I don’t know. Guess I never thought you two would meet.” The mutter was all Samuel could answer. “We had a falling out a year or so before I met you. This was the longest I’ve gone without talking to her.” He turned to the side and noticed his student’s face, and Kaito clearly had a hard time believing it. “What?”

“I don’t know, it’s just...” The teenager knew little about relationships, but he could tell it wasn’t all there was to their story. “If what you said is true, it seems strange that she took us in so readily. You say you two had not been speaking for years, yet you still act like no time had passed. May I ask… just what happened between you two?”

It was weirder to Samuel how interested Kaito seemed about his sensei’s past. Maybe that Servant of his had been putting ideas in his head? After taking another puff, Samuel answered. “No, you may not.” He then took a pretty long last drag to finish it off. “It’s rather personal for her. It wouldn’t be right for me to tell you.” He stomped out the cigarette butt before asking. “What about Evelyn? How does she look to you?”

Scratching the back of his head, Kaito simply said. “She is hanging in there. The shock has already worn off, but I don’t think she could sleep this off if you know what I mean.” He doubted she could even get to sleep anyway. “We should’ve been there for her.”

“There’s nothing we can do about that anymore. Don’t worry now, she won’t need to worry about this for much longer.” Receiving a confused look from his student, he explained. “She lost her Servant. No way she can run with us anymore.”

Kaito opened his mouth to protest, prepared to fire back some point to defend his friend, but the few seconds he thought about it, the more that made sense to him. Still, he couldn’t take his sensei’s lack of heart. “You’re just going to dump her on the side of the road or what?”

“Of course not. We’ll contact the Association and they can send her back home. Trust me, it’s better if she drops out of the conflict altogether.” Just casting her aside like that didn’t sit well with Kaito. He couldn’t fully agree with Samuel’s decision outright and that left him conflicted. Seeing that the conversation had run its course, Samuel turned around and began to walk away. “Get ready, we are leaving soon.”

Doing as instructed, the teenager went directly to his car while Samuel spoke with the older members of the group, leaving him and Evelyn alone for a while. The boy leaned over the seat to share some of his food with her. “Hey, you resting well?”

Evelyn sat up, already a bit uncomfortable from laying down for so much time. “Better.” She accepted whatever he handed her and started to unwrap it. “What were you two talking about?” She had stolen a glance towards them as they stood apart near the station.

Thinking of the best way to answer her question, he found it hard to convey his feelings without making it sound bad. “We were just wondering what you would like to do from here on...” Giving the decision to her, instead of ditching her at their own convenience. “I mean, you can still help us out…Just, not in battle with you losing…You know.”

Evelyn let out a big sigh, running her fingers across her hair, numb from all the tears. “You really have to ask me that now?”

“I...Uhm…” He lacked tact, that much was obvious. “It’s hard, I know, but we are on the enemy’s heels now. We can’t even imagine what we’ll find at our next stop.” Their timetable was close-cut; they had to be decisive with no room for doubts. “I know you’re strong, that’s not the point here, it’s just…You’re the only one here that has options now.” Without a Servant, but Command Seals still remaining, she could go either way at the moment. “We still need your help, but no one would try to stop you if you were to step down. You’re even the Association's favorite.”

Keeping quiet and looking down at her feet, the only answer she could come up with was to go back to lying down. She refused to say more and rolled away from him. In truth, after that fight the only thing she could think of was home, going back to her parents, and making sure they were fine. Saber himself told her to stay alive. Surely that would be a lot easier to do without taking part in this Grail War. Then again, there was a feeling, screaming at her to go on, that she still was unable to figure out.

However, this didn’t stop Kaito from making one last statement. “The only reason I can see for continuing on right now is payback. I just want to say… make sure you don’t follow something so dangerous.” Only receiving more silence in response, he decided to cut their conversation there.

In the other car, pretty much in plain view of the teenagers, most of the adults were standing around and waiting for an update. Neither Samuel’s radio or a connection to the Association were ringing, so as far as they knew Vox Caster had not been spotted by anyone other than themselves. Roberta leaned on the open window to the back seat. “Any news from Rider?”

Red Harvest answered, sitting inside the car fit rather than waiting outside. “Nothing so far. Maybe they are still on the way there.” No new directions nor change of paths yet.

Turning back to the group, he asked “Nothing on our trail either?” to the only Servant currently with their group.

Lancer had already checked their surroundings a few times over, both there at the gas station and during their drive. “Not one single tail on our trail. Either we got lucky back at the town or the enemy has more important matters to attend.”

“I don’t know...” Samuel was the one on edge after hearing Assassin’s call. “They found us, the fact that we managed to slip away after all that happened is amazing on its own.”

“Maybe their whole objective was Evelyn?” Xiang spoke up, trying to simplify things as usual. “They knew facing all of us at the same time would be suicide. That’s why they separated her.”

“That still doesn’t explain how easily they let us go.” Still pondering, the answer eluded the pyromancer. “I don’t want us getting trapped in another fight, even more so now that we are close to our objective.”

There wasn’t much else they could do about the situation. Now that they were stocked up on food and fuel for the rest of the night, they needed to hit the road once again. Roberta finished her cigarette and signaled to all of them to go back to the cars. “Let’s waste no more time.” She went directly to her vehicle and Lancer disappeared into her spiritual form. Seeing how Evelyn was deciding to sleep for the rest of the trip, she took the copilot seat, just as Kaito was turning the engine on. “No news from Caster, I suppose?”

Kaito had earlier sent his Servant out to join Archer and Rider in pursuit and to have someone scouting for any trouble ahead. Since she was sent, she had also been silent. “Nothing. She is fine, but it bothers me that we haven't gotten anything from them.” Roberta joined him in those worries, but before she could speak some encouragement, she was cut off. “And now we are one Servant down. Ugh, they truly screwed us over right before things could go bad.”

Deciding to discuss the elephant in the room, or in this case, car, in a low tone so as to not wake the girl up, Roberta asked. “What do you think about leaving her behind?”

He still maintained the same opinion, but now he could word his argument a bit better. “I think it should be Evelyn’s decision to leave, not ours.”

An interesting take, Roberta thought. “Really? How so?”

“Well, if she wants to go back home that’s fine. We can’t force anyone to fight with us. But if she really wants to stay it’ll be better if she knew we had her back”. He thought it was a pretty simple position.

Not wanting to burst his bubble, but knowing she had to put this on the table. “We actually can force someone to fight for us, that’s why I’m here.”

Well, that was one point he hasn’t considered. Nonetheless, “I know, most of us can’t walk away from this now. That’s why Evelyn’s case is so important; she still can.”

This prompted another point from Roberta. “Yeah, that’s true. But consider this: all of us could really just walk away from this war. The only thing stopping us is what we get out of surviving til’ the end.” It was true; good motivation could set anyone onto a dangerous path. “I really have no choice. It’s either win this and get off the black list, or go back to London for the rest of my days. I want to end up better than how I started this.”

He pondered that perspective for a few seconds, and Kaito had one question. “What about Xiang and Harvest?”

She responded with a little shrug. “You’ll have to ask them to be sure. But I can tell you, even Samuel must have something in mind. He’d never stick his neck in something this crazy just for the money.”

“Right...” That was something he’d have to think over during the ride. “And what does this have to do with Evelyn?”

“It’s as you said. It comes down to her choice. Whatever she wants to do, it depends on what she wants to accomplish.” Roberta adjusted herself in her seat before explaining further. “She agreed to do this for free. No kind of down payment, nothing. With nothing to push her to go on, she’ll go back home without us telling her to. And even if she decided to fight, without any drive she’ll be useless.” In truth, it was up to Evelyn’s fighting spirit. A warrior is nothing without it. “What about you?” She noticed the look on Kaito’s face, one of confusion. “What are you getting out of this?”

“Mmmmmm...Don’t know. I never thought of this like that. Where my sensei goes, I go. It’s as simple as that.” This took Roberta by surprise. His reasons seemed so simplistic. “It’s been like that since we got together.”

That last piece told her something else though, peaking her interest. “And how long has that been?”

Doing some fast calculations in his mind. “9 years or so. Majority of my life, actually.” He was sixteen currently. “I haven’t been back to this country since we met, now that I think about it.”

More than intrigued now, Roberta continued to probe. “Were you alone when he found you? What happened to your folks?”

He took a long time answering that question. “They died in an accident. I don’t remember much of it. Can't remember much of anything from those times, really. I prefer not to dwell much on the past.”

Roberta backed off, with her lips arching in a small smile. “Now I get why Samuel took you in. You two are more alike than you think.” Kaito said nothing, just kept his eyes on the road and made some imperceptible mental notes. Almost unwillingly, Roberta had given him an idea on how to find the answers he needed to calm his troubled mind.

In the back seat, still pretending to be asleep, Evelyn also thought about the conversation. She really internalized what was said, especially considering she was the center of it. She lost big tonight but couldn’t afford to keep wandering aimlessly. Taking initiative must be her top priority from here on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hit the backlog of chapters I had written and edited so you readers would need to wait a bit longer for new chapters. I'll work on not leaving you waiting too long for them and look forward to them. Whatever number of readers this has, I thank you for sticking with me.


	15. Planning Stage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait, I had to work a lot this month, hope I didn't lose readers though.
> 
> In fact I liked writing this knowing there's a public for it, as small as it might be.

The orders had been final for the Association team: get some rest. At the very least it would hopefully clear their minds.

Still, despite the order and the reasoning behind it, some of them couldn’t find rest. Xiang and Kaito specifically.

The pair decided to share a room together with Evelyn. More specifically, this was the back room of the bar where they had found a small bed. Evelyn took the bed on insistence from her colleagues, and the other two stretched out on the floor. As they both lay next to each other, Kaito rolled to his side to speak. “Can’t sleep either?”

Xiang let out a small sigh. “No. Don’t know how Evelyn can do it.” To them, the girl looked quite comfortable snuggled up in her bed, though the simple existence of a bed for her might have been enough.

“Yeah, everything is so messed up.” Some seconds of silence passed between the two, each not knowing what to say next.

Xiang eventually decided to break it. “Sorry about giving you attitude earlier. You took me by surprise.”

Honestly, that conversation was still on his mind, but he didn’t want to let that be known. “Ah, don’t worry. I had already forgotten all about it.”

The young woman turned back to the ceiling, not knowing what to say next. “My most vivid memory starts like this...” She raised one arm up high. “I’m flat on the ground facing up, the sun hitting me directly in the face.” She took a breath before continuing. “At that time I knew nothing about myself. Where I was, what year it was, where my parents were. Not even my name. I just knew I was so hungry. For as long as I have memory, I have known the feeling of starvation.”

The boy turned on his stomach, hugging his pillow as he answered. “I’m sorry to hear that…” Mimicking his moves, Xiang laid on her stomach as Kaito continued. “My parents died in an accident. They… weren’t the best parents...” This was something he almost never shared, the only person he has told was Samuel, and that was after years of travelling together. “I remember they were real flower children and all that stuff. Never gave that much attention to me, for long periods of time.” It was a tame story considering Xiang’s; he knew that but still felt like sharing. “I remember there was a fire at our home. I don’t know how it started. I just remember it spreading so fast… And I couldn’t wake them fast enough.”

Both of them sulked after saying their thoughts out loud. Xiang moments later gathered enough courage to say something. “And you blame yourself for that?”

He’d had more than enough time to mourn. “I don’t, there was nothing I could do. I was a kid back then. No one would blame me for wanting to survive.”

Feeling uneasy over those words, almost not wanting to say anything else, Xiang just quietly muttered. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Looking at him once more, she asked. “We can’t act out of selfish instinct all the time, especially if you have to burden your conscience.”

Kaito returned to silence at that, unsure of how to answer. Before he could, something else interrupted their talk. It was the sound of sobbings coming from just above them, and looking up revealed that Evelyn had curled into a small ball on her bed. Having heard their conversation, she had apparently hit her limit. Immediately jumping up, Xiang and Kaito tried consoling the girl up until the point they all fell asleep.

***

Caster heard the commotion from just outside the door, but didn’t want to intervene; didn’t even take a peek. Instead, she walked to the front of the bar, where she spotted Lancer sitting on one of the stools.

She sat beside Lancer’s “Hey, our Masters are fine; just checked. How are you?”

Lancer was apparently passing the time not by sleeping but by guarding the bar, enjoying some of the alcohol while she was at it. “Great, actually. Psyching myself up for the fight.” She took a small sip of her drink as she answered.

Caster chuckled. “You know that won’t happen for a while, right?” Although she spoke with playful concern, her words fell on deaf ears. “I’m just saying, you could use a rest yourself.” All she got in response was a blank stare, and she sighed. “Just remember you won’t be alone when the time comes. We’ll be there to help out.”

Setting her glass down loudly, Lancer spoke gruffly. “I know that; That’s not the problem. What I want is some payback.” She angrily looked down at her glass as she said this. “What they did to Saber can’t be forgiven. I’m going to get back at those cowards a hundredfold.”

Letting out another small sigh, Caster tried to console her. “I agree with that, but your focus should be on the living.”

Something Lancer took as an insult. “Hey, don’t forget. We’re not even the living. Are you backing down on your words? Have you forgotten about our wishes?!”

“No. I just don’t want anyone else to die.” Caster answered, in a rather serious tone for her. “Don’t be so fixated on battle that you forget we also have people to protect.”

“I also know that. Sometimes the best way to make sure the ones you care about are safe is to eliminate all the threats.” She kept looking forward and away from Caster, her mind set on whatever she was planning at the moment. “You should go all out when the fight comes, there’s no time for holding back now.”

Caster squinted her eyes a bit, not wanting to pressure Lancer when she was already this moody. “And you remember, even our enemies have a couple of aces up their sleeves.” Something she couldn’t stress enough, especially considering the woman’s temper. “Anyway, I have to do some more check ups. See you when everyone has woken up.” With that she walked out of the main room.

Lancer stayed upon that stool, wanting another sip but realizing that her glass was empty. Letting out a bit of exasperation, she was about to reach behind the bar to grab another bottle when her attention was caught by something coming from her side.

Quickly catching whatever came sliding down the bar to her location, she looked up to see Assassin. “Why not try that one?” Assassin called out to her, from the far end of the bar. “It’s gin, made out of berries. Thought you might like to try something new.”

As Assassin stood in front of Lancer, the woman opened the bottle up and poured herself a glass. Drinking it all up in one go, she took a moment to consider it. “Hmm...It’s good.” She saw Assassin fixing himself a drink. “I don’t drink for the taste, though.” At least, she thought, not just for that. She began drinking straight from the bottle afterwards.

Looking on as she gave the bottle a good swig in silence, and then how she put it down without even flinching at the alcohol, Assassin finished his own drink and grabbed the bottle, taking a small sip from it. “You know, I’ve never met a woman who could drink me under the table.” When that didn’t get a reaction from her, he tried something else. “Good to see your arm is feeling better.” Still nothing from Lancer, she mostly kept looking down at the bar. “I take it you don’t feel like talking.”

Finally she looked up and answered back. “I’m still angry about how you lied to me.” She looked at him dead in the eye. “Couldn’t you have told me you were on our side back then? Woulda saved me from looking ridiculous.”

“I was undercover, under order from my Master no less.” He had to grant her her point, though. “Sorry if you felt like I deceived you. I am a spy first, after all.” As much of a non-apology as it was, it seemed to not have much effect on changing Lancer’s mood. Thinking fast, Assassin took the bottle of gin and began to fiddle with some more ingredients behind the bar, catching her attention with his fast actions. Finally presenting a small drink in a cocktail glass, he placed it down gently in front of Lancer. “Here, for you.”

Inspecting the glass, and confused about everything that happened, Lancer asked. “What’s that supposed to be?”

“It’s a martini. I owe you a drink, remember?” From the time back in Louisiana in the casino. “It’s my favorite drink. Made the way I like, too. Try it, tell me what you think.”

“Hmmmm...” Lancer kept staring at the glass; it even had a small green olive on a toothpick in it. It wasn’t what she’d drink on a normal basis, and such a small amount for one whole drink too, but anyway, booze was booze. The Servant took the glass and drank it in one go, playing with it in her mouth for a while before gulping it down. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

As Lancer moved to the olive, Assassin let out a small chuckle. “Glad you like it. At least I paid my debt.”

The mood now lighter, the woman Servant decided to ask. “What’s up with your Noble Phantasm?” She had heard some weird stuff about it from several of the Masters, and now that they had no pending topics between them, she felt this was the right time to ask. “They told me you can’t die, are you supposed to be immortal?”

Assassin thought for a few seconds how to explain this to her. “I… do die, my Noble Phantasm is more the ability to be back after dying. With some limitations, of course.” The Servant then pointed at his face. “Every time I do so, my looks and personality change too. It’s quite an interesting thing, if I say so myself.”

Trying to process that information, Lancer looked quite pensive about everything now. “I can’t place you. If your powers are connected to resurrection, I should have an idea on who you are.”

Backing up a bit, since she was getting too close for his comfort, Assassin answered. “It’s not resurrection. That’s just the nature of my character.” Lancer sat tight as she waited for more explanation. “I’m more of a legacy character, I….” Quickly growing silent, he looked down. Only regaining his usual mood after noticing Lancer waiting for him. “It’s strange. I’m not supposed to be real, yet, I recall my previous life like it really was.” Realizing he wasn’t making much sense, he regained a stoic face. “It’s a complicated matter. Best I could sum it up is that I’m a character from some famous stories, and it’s that fame that gives me my powers. Hope that answered your question.” It did satisfy some of her confusion, but Lancer knew when to push and when not to. Letting out a loud sigh, she rested her head on the bar. “What is it?”

“You heard what happened to our Saber, right?” She saw Assassin nod and she lifted her left arm. “He healed my arm so I could fight at my full strength again and I was never able to thank him properly. Now the enemy has killed him in the most cowardly way and I can’t think of a way to get back at them.”

Assassin gave a 100 yard stare to the wall, but responded. “I heard about it when I was undercover at the enemy camp. They celebrated it as a major victory. Their Saber didn’t show up for the festivities, though. He fought against their Saber, why not start there?”

Lancer groaned, resting her head on one hand. “I don’t think another direct attack would be useful for us right now. Can’t think of a way to lure him into a one on one either.”

Assassin, aware of how everything transpired from both sides already, simply asked. “Why not just ask him for it?” Catching her attention and confusion, he explained. “Their Servant asked for the duel himself. Aside from another Saber, I’m sure he is itching for a fair match against an opponent to clear his name. And, having fought you before, I’m sure he’d be interested in a rematch.”

What he said sounded possible, although as an answer it was a bit anticlimactic. “Are you telling me to go to their camp and ask for a fight?”

“Well, not the way you’re suggesting...” Especially considering how they trapped Saber before, it was not advisable to be so direct. Nonetheless, Lancer looked more than capable, and willing, to go do that right now unless another option appeared. “I have an idea. Wait here.” The Servant stepped into the next room, looking around for two specific objects before coming back to Lancer with a black marker and white paper. “Why not send him a challenge?” She perked up, knowing exactly what his idea was. “Write your opponent the time and place of the match and I’ll do my best to deliver it when I sneak back into their camp.”

“That’s a great idea!” Quickly smiling and going for the piece of paper. Lancer began scribbling at a fast pace.

“That’s… not how you spell challenge.” Actually, her writing in general wasn’t right, or understandable. After some more corrections like that, Lancer growing more and more annoyed, he decided to help her a little. Pulling out another sheet of paper and said. “Just tell me what you want to say and I’ll write it down. I have a way with words.”

Relenting before losing control. “Fine, write this down...” Lancer began speaking, Assassin hearing carefully and working on transcribing the challenge letter as best as possible.

***

A few hours of rest within them, the Association team slowly awoke and gathered in the main room. And with full bellies and clear heads, they convened to exchange ideas and come up with a plan.

“Alright, guys, the main idea is to divide and conquer.” Samuel started the meeting, each of them sitting in the bar’s booths and staring at the board he had rolled in. A crude drawing of the city could be seen, and at the edges of the board were a set of post-it notes with each of their names, as well as anyone else of importance. “Worst case scenario, we’ll have seven Servants to worry about at the same time.” He arranged their name tags on the board to keep track. It was a fairly simple visual diagram, but it also made them realize for the first time how their factions matched up. It wasn’t a flattering comparison.

“Also, number superiority, counting their army and Masters at the same time.” He took a step back to let them soak it all in. Even the idea of going against those odds made them feel small and powerless. “Moving to our side. We have five Servants and the six of us Masters.” Staring at the names on the board for a couple of seconds, he started with his plan. “Assassin had some interesting intel on the enemy Rider. I’ll leave that to him in the upcoming battle. I, on the other hand, will set up a communications network in the bar so we can all keep each other informed and have a rally point in case we need to retreat.”

Samuel then opened the channel for the rest to throw their ideas out. “Lancer wants to fight their Saber. I’ll stay to give her a hand.” Xiang first spoke, having already discussed it with her Servant in private, deciding it was better to keep a close eye on Lancer in case she went crazy like before. However, her words were met with some incredulous looks. “What? You don’t think we can do it?”

Quickly trying to avoid a fight, Samuel said. “It’s not that. I had just planned on Lancer handling the enemy soldiers in the field all at once, rather than just one enemy.”

“Actually...” Red Harvest intervened. “I think you can leave the army to Rider and I. With some preparation, we can come up with an army of our own.” It was a surprise, but a welcome one. The rest of the group wondered why he had never brought this up before.

Roberta was skeptical as she heard that. “You think you can get it ready in time?”

“Yes, if I start preparations as soon as this meeting is over.” He paused there, since there were some complications he needed to address. “But I will need some help. Not everything will be as easy to come by.”

“So this means Lancer and I can have our fight?” Xiang wanted to have this cleared before they moved on.

Samuel nodded along before moving to the board again. “Sure, also...”

Before being interrupted by Caster. “We are still forgetting something important.” It was something she knew Archer would back her up on. “There’s a girl trapped inside the cabin. No matter how full we have our plates, that should be our priority.”

Having thought that through already, he responded. “Of course, but we have more pressing threats.”

“No, she’s right, sensei.” Kaito commented. “Isn’t she the whole point of this war? We should rescue her and then run away if things turn sour.”

Archer stood up for this point. “My Master  _ is _ the one in greater danger the longer we leave her with that witch.” The next point hurt him to say after making it clear where his priorities lied. “But I fear that beast Servant is a much bigger threat. I get the impression he would follow me to the end of the Earth just to kill me himself. So I couldn’t take part in any rescue.”

“You wouldn’t need to. I can get your Master out of that deathtrap and back to safety in no time.” Caster reassured the Servant, as much as the rest of the group. “I can do it alone too, a one-woman-job ought to be more discreet than a group trying to break in.”

“Mmmmmmm...” Samuel made some quick adjustments to accommodate Caster’s rescue operation, as well as Archer’s fate to fight Vox Berserker. “We are still missing some elements here. Some of us will have to pull double duty.” He scribbled some extra information as he spoke. “Evelyn, if you are sticking around, I need you to fortify the bar as well as some other places around town. You and Kai will also stay inside in case we need extra support around the battlefield.”

“Let me deal with Berserker myself.” Roberta spoke up, unilaterally deciding the Servant was no one else’s responsibility than her own. “Chances are, they are going to use his mist to slowly bog us down during the battle. I can cook something up to counter it and then focus on breaking whatever spell he is under.”

Letting out a big sigh, Samuel regrettably knew better than to fight her on this, especially after everything that happened. “Harvest, you give her all the support you can. Keep the enemy away from Roberta. Let mom scold her kid in peace.” All in all, it wasn’t like they couldn’t get in to save her if things went wrong. “That really leaves us short on people, though. We still have their Lancer and Archer to worry about, and also that witch. I mean, if Harvest’s plan works, we might be able to stall them long enough to regroup and take them on, but that would be stretching ourselves too thin.” Too many openings would form for the enemy to take advantage of.

***

With the plan finalized, they had all stood up and began to work on their respective tasks. Evelyn and Kaito were to reinforce the bar with both magic and physical barriers. They blocked streets and alleyways, blowing up buildings with Kaito’s magic and using the rubble and debris as material. Meanwhile, Evelyn set up traps and her own barriers around the perimeter. At the same time, Samuel helped Red Harvest and Rider prepare their ritual, gathering firewood from around town and setting it up outside the bar as a massive bonfire.

The pyromancer still worked through the last bits of his plan against Vox Rider with the shaman. “How effective do you think your plan will be?”

Red Harvest fumbled around his ingredients to double check he had everything. “It’s Rider’s Noble Phantasm. It must work, one way or another. How effective it is ultimately depends on how much mana we put into it.” That might bring some trouble considering the state of the Servant owner. “Why do you ask?”

Samuel frowned as he moved some wood furniture around. “Taking out Vox Rider requires a combined effort. Assassin will work behind enemy lines but we have to keep the Servant busy.So while my Servant brings us what we need to kill it, we have to stay alive long enough to use it.”

“Well, that’s the first time I’m hearing of this.” The shaman spoke a bit indignantly. “Since when do we have a way to kill the unkillable?”

“It’s not anything concrete. His Master might have the key to this but he keeps it close to him at all times. This fight will be our only chance to take it away.”

Red Harvest released a sigh, owed to a number of factors. “I keep thinking the enemy is going to attack any second. This ritual will need time more than anything. Can you be so sure we will have it?”

“I’m still banking on the fact that we’re being underestimated. The Grail is their prime objective. They might end up fighting each other before paying attention to us.” They could still drop everything and run away if things went that way; they still had a clean getaway out of town. “Also, Archer and Caster are keeping watch; they’ll give us a heads up if the enemy starts moving.” As soon as he finished saying that, Samuel noticed the shaman’s still-frustrated expression. “What is it?”

Stroking his chin, Red Harvest took all his things and put them away, talking directly to Samuel now. “We still need to talk about the ritual. There might be some complications we have to fix.” 

***

Deeming the fortifications good enough, for now at least, Evelyn and Kaito wondered what to do next. Their next priority was to help the other with their tasks. Their target was clear, visible even from the edge of town: A pillar of smoke rising from their base. Of an unusual color, even. As they got closer, they could see the smoke was coming from the roof of the bar, so they quickly entered to find the stairs up to the top.

Upon reaching the top of the building, they saw a huge cauldron emanating a thick, green haze. Roberta worked at a nearby table cutting herbs and measuring ingredients. Both teenagers approached her while covering their mouths from the smoke. After exchanging hellos, Evelyn asked. “Is this your plan to counteract the mist?”

The potion maker threw a fresh batch of ingredients into the water. “Yes, I’m going to make a fog of my own.” She turned to go back to the mixing table and look inside her bag. “Whatever is in Berserker’s mist poisons the air around. If I make an antidote fog and release it around town it will let us walk with no issues. Although, weather magic is difficult to work; it will probably deplete my entire supply in one go.” Not that this would be a waste. “It should take some time to take effect though. I could use your help; there’s still more ingredients to chop.”

“Sure!” Evelyn said. She then looked to the side of the building where Kaito was looking over the edge. “You want to help too?”

Kaito was watching over his teacher and Red Harvest. They were talking around the enormous pile of firewood they had gathered, and he wondered what they were planning to do. Still, having heard that question, he turned around to answer. “Yes. Just tell me what to do.”

It was mostly cutting and mixing for the three of them, stirring the pot from time to time and watching over the concoction and the smoke it created. More and more the mixture changed colors, all the while the sky unchanging, staying bright and clear. It didn’t give them much hope in their work, but Roberta seemed to be confident that everything was going right. At last, as the hours dragged on, the potion had settled into a particular deep green color emanating no smell.

“Right, now we have to let it rest for awhile and see what happens tomorrow.” From here it seemed she had this handled.

Looking at the cauldron in silence, the teenagers decided to sit down and talk, enjoying what could be the last quiet moment they all could share. Well, that and something Kaito wanted to ask. “Now what? Isn’t there something else we could be doing to help around?”

The older woman leaned back in her seat before answering. “I think, for now, we have everything covered. We will have to wait for everything to unfold before doing any more planning ahead.” She next directed a thought toward Evelyn. “We are still working on getting a message through, maybe we can get an escort to take you back to safety. You know, before everything starts.”

Evelyn quickly grew silent and distant, letting out a silent sigh as she responded. “Thanks, but… don’t you think I should stay too? That I could help out in the fight?”

Without missing a beat, Roberta simply stated. “I think it’s best for you to-”

Evelyn immediately interrupted her. “I mean, you also don’t have a Servant and still want to fight. Shouldn’t I stick around too?” Catching herself and toning her outburst down, she then uttered. “...I don’t want to leave you all alone when you most need help.”

Thinking on the best way to approach this issue, while also wanting to comfort and reassure the girl before anything else, Roberta answered. “We’ll be fine. Believe me: all of us can take care of ourselves.” They wouldn’t truly be alone, anyway. “Yes, we could use more help, but our main concern is our own survival. That includes you too.”

Evelyn was defused and despondent. The teenage girl looked equal parts embarrassed and at a loss of words. Keeping quiet and avoiding her companions eyes, the girl stood up and walked away from the scene. The remaining mages on the roof were left quiet. “She doesn’t have any fight left in her, yet still she remains here.”

“I don’t think it’s that.” Kaito spoke up in her defense. “I think she wants us to ask for her help or directly tell her we don’t need her. None of this whole ‘you can leave the work to us and retreat’.”

Now looking confused, Roberta asked. “But why would she want that?”

Thinking on that same note to formulate his answer. “I know that I follow my sensei around and do everything he says. But I do it because I had little choice becoming his student. I guess I never noticed how much extra support Saber’s presence gave her in her choices. Now that she has to make those choices herself, she’s stuck. Those small moments in our lives when we’re at a crossroads; when we do have options and we need to decide. Those are the most important.” 

He couldn’t stop thinking how different Evelyn was from the rest of them. They were all mercenaries. She was practically nobility. She had been hand-picked by the Association. And she had failed in that position. He wanted Evelyn to keep fighting and go on with the mission, already knowing how strong a spirit she had, but he also didn’t want tragedy to break that spirit. 

“Anyway, I’ve been meaning to ask...” Before he could finish that sentence though, Kaito saw Evelyn coming back from the entrance to the roof.

Quickly delivering her message. “Hey, Samuel said he needs us all downstairs.”

The three of them packed up the lab, the spell already finished, and went downstairs, meeting in front of the bar next to the amassed wood pile. Both Samuel and Red Harvest stood ready to explain what was about to happen. “You see, for Rider’s Noble Phantasm to work the way we want, we will need a huge amount of mana.”

Red Harvest continued on from there. “Unfortunately, after Rider got injured in his last fight, we are both running low on it. But you need not fret; we still have a way to make it work.”

Kaito raised his hand in the middle of this explanation to ask. “I’m sorry, how exactly does Rider’s Noble Phantasm work? What does it do?”

A fair question, the two grown men thought. “Rider...”

Taking shape from thin air, the Servant stood tall and looked at the audience before explaining. “I summon old spirits of warriors into battle. The more energy I put into it, the bigger the war party.” He focused a small amount of mana around into his body, lines and symbols appearing all over his body as he did so. After a few seconds of gathering his magical energy, more spirits appeared beside the Servant, just like he had in the earlier fight in the forest. A small group, the three of them wore ancestral clothing and weapons. The most distinctive feature, however, were their ghostly white eyes emanating a dim light.

And just like that, they disappeared, Rider trying to recover his breath after the demonstration. “Just like that. I can summon an army to fight for me.”

“With enough mana, that is. Which is why we need both your help.” Samuel pointed at the teenagers. “We can make a ritual to harvest energy but it would take too much time to gather it from nature alone. We need more energy that is already gathered, such as within a human body.”

Finally getting it, “Ah, you want to use us as mana batteries.” Kaito commented. After a moment, he realized what this meant and had some concerns.

But Evelyn was the first one to ask. “Wouldn’t that leave Kai and I without mana to fight?”

“Yes...” Kaito took the lead. “Even putting aside if we could do something like that, that would leave you down two magi. And what about Caster? If I run out of mana won’t she be unable to fight too?”

“You don’t need to worry much about that.” Red Harvest began explaining. “I’ll be putting some of my own life energy in too. Then, with what we can gather from the surrounding areas, each of you would only need to provide 1⁄4 of the required mana. ”

The pyromancer also tried to ease their minds. “At most, you’ll be out for a couple of hours, wake up with enough strength to fight. Caster shouldn’t be affected either.” He shot Roberta the side eye as he explained, the woman looking at him with a serious expression. “If a fight breaks out while you’re both out we can hide you in the bar; nothing is going to get you in there.”

Kaito and Evelyn shared a quick look, thinking this whole situation had become complicated. “And what if we wake up and the fight is over?” Kaito asked, not so much worried about the outcome, but frustrated he might not be of any help in the actual fight.

His sensei answered that. “Well, if you’re still alive, then we won. And in that case you can stop worrying about the enemy.”

“Also, the ritual shouldn’t take long, even counting preparation time.” Red Harvest added. “We can’t ask anyone else either. We need Roberta and Samuel awake to fight specific Servants, I need to command Rider, and Xiang is on elimination duty. The war party would fill our ranks and give us enough muscle to match the extra Vox Nihili goons.”

This might not be the opportunity Evelyn was waiting for, but she knew there was no other way she could contribute right now. “Alright, I’ll do it. Just tell me what to do.”

The group did not look at Kaito, waiting for his answer. The teenager still pondered his options. “You said Caster wouldn’t end up being affected? But she has one of the most important roles. We can’t risk this ritual weakening her.”

“You shouldn’t worry too much about that. Caster doesn’t take much mana already, right? Also, think about it this way: our army would also work to distract the witch and take her out of her hut. That gives Caster the perfect window of opportunity to spirit the girl out of there.” Sensing another complaint his student might have, he immediately headed it off. “We will also take extra precautions to hide you two while you’re out. You’re going to stay in the bar. With all the defenses we have in place, that’s the most secure place in the whole town.”

After much thinking, Kaito let out a loud sigh. “I really wanted to fight this time. Leaving all of you to do the heavy lifting leaves a bad taste in my mouth.” He even tried to come up with a last-minute alternative. “Can’t I give a little less and still fight? I’m sure that beats staying asleep inside.”

“Sorry, but it’s all or nothing. We do this right and get the upper hand or mess it up and the odds stay against us.” Samuel continued to shut him down.

Deciding to let it go, Kaito hung his head. “Alright, but let’s at least do it right now.” Kaito figured he could at least wake up while the fight was going on instead of after it was over.

Samuel put one hand up, not letting Kaito raise his hopes too much. “Aside from finishing the fire pit we also need to prepare you. Roberta and Harvest will deal with that and I’ll have everything ready outside by the time you’re done.”

There was no time to lose, so they immediately got to work. First, Red Harvest prepared a mixture in a wide basin bowl, Roberta helping so they could move faster, with Rider watching over them from the sideline. This left Evelyn and Kaito to sit down and wait anxiously for everything to be ready. Curious about what was going to happen, Evelyn asked. “What exactly  _ is _ the ritual?”

Rider answered back. “Ghost Dance, is what it’s called. You saw me summoning spirits by myself, but to summon all the spirits of my tribe, we need something large enough, and important enough to call them from the afterlife itself. You see, I myself was summoned from the Throne of Heroes, like any Servant. My people, my tribe… while they are all heroes in their own right, their individual fame did not grant them the same afterlife as my own. So in order to call them from their eternal slumber, I must perform this traditional dance, and offer to them a worthy cause. The extra energy and life force is just a means to power the connection.”

All of Kaito’s attention was on Rider now. “That sure sounds amazing, but also complicated.”

Silently raising one finger up, Rider answered. “It isn’t really so complicated, but you need a huge mass of power to maintain the link. I’m sure the spirits will hear my call and come, though in truth I wish we could leave them to rest in peace. Some of them I know would be happier staying out of another war.” The Servant sounded familiar, or maybe experienced in this matter. “Nonetheless, I thank you for your help.”

Smiling over that sentiment, Evelyn answered back. “You’re very welcome. I’m glad I can help with this.”

“Glad to see you enthusiasm, girl, but I don’t think you’ll be this happy later.” Red Harvest commented, wanting to warn them of something before moving further. “I’m not saying this will hurt you; at most you’ll feel exhausted once you wake up. I’m talking about the ritual itself.” He stopped with his business and turned towards the teenagers. “I need you to open your mind and soul during the exchange, for you to truly be connected to the spirits we are summoning. That kind of connection doesn’t come easily. So we are going to work on it in two ways.” He gestured to the bowls and mortars he and Roberta were working on. “We will paint your bodies in a special ink and then you’ll drink a potion to open your minds.” Both teenagers were simultaneously intrigued and mortified the more he spoke. “I can’t tell you what you’ll see once you’re in the trance, just remember that anything that happens while you’re out can’t really hurt you. So there’s no need to panic.”

The teenagers fell silent, exchanging a quick look between themselves as Red Harvest went back to work, leaving them to stew about his words. A journey into their minds with old spirits was one of the only things they never imagined would be part of this journey. Any idea they managed to come up with fell short when compared to something as big as an out of body experience. And before they could lose themselves too much into their doubts and thoughts, Roberta stood up from her spot, quietly announcing. “The paint is ready.”

“Great. Take them outside to Samuel and start painting them. I’m almost done here.” The shaman instructed and all three of them left the bar. Outside they were instantly greeted by the pyromancer, who had already set up a pair of chairs for the young ones, the fire pit only awaiting for the ‘mana batteries’ to be complete.

Samuel, already having taken his gloves off, rolled his sleeves up. “Off with your shirt, Kai. I’m painting you.”

Roberta set the bowls of paint on a nearby table and then spoke to Evelyn. “You can keep your underwear, but I’ll need to cover your torso.” At least she could keep her decency during this.

Beginning the process of painting their bodies using only their hands, the older magi seemed to have a clear idea of what they were doing all the way. Using the colors at their disposal, mostly black, white, red and blue, they stuck to the upper parts of their bodies, arms and faces, also sticking to simple patterns. The lines and shapes were as clean and fast as you could get with warpaint. It didn't feel that clean and simple for the teenagers; every time the paint touched their skin their magic circuits tingled, as if they were receiving a small shock of mana with every stroke. Their whole bodies went light, a bit numb too, but their minds were still up and awake so they paid it no mind.

After about ten minutes had passed, it was time for the finishing touches. “Alright, Eve, close your eyes and hold your breath.” Roberta instructed and Evelyn obeyed, the woman dipping the palm of her left hand into the bowl of red paint and put a full handprint on the girl’s face, covering her whole mouth and running across the right side of Evelyn’s cheek. That was the only mark on her face, she also had both arms covered in black and white horizontal lines, her chest and stomach also sporting several red hands and paw prints, front and back. “There, it’s all done.”

With his eyes closed, Kato spoke up. “Are you done already? They already finished over there.” Having his teacher touch his face so much was starting to get annoying.

“If you stopped talking and squirming so much, maybe it would be over already.” Samuel went all out with the paint, doing a full covering of his face with red except for the black line across his eyes and along the sides of his face. From the neck down to just under his shoulders were marks of several colors, like small water drops running down his body, and from the rest of the way down to his waistline fully white. “Done, now we just have to wait for...” Before he could finish, Red Harvest had stepped out of the bar with a cup in each hand. “Great, the potion is done, let’s get moving.”

Roberta and Samuel guided the teenagers a few meters in front of the fireplace and sat them on the street, the two of them ending side by side. Without wasting any time . “Here, drink it all up.” The shaman passed them their drinks and they paused only a little bit to inspect their drinks. On the surface, the concoction had no smell, not even a faint one, and though the blue color and its odd warmth gave them no comfort, down their throats it had to go. The taste hit them almost instantly, as if they were taking a big sip of pure alcohol. Quickly coughing the big sip they took, but ultimately passing it down, they decided against commenting on it out loud. Maybe it would be better with the second sip.

Samuel chuckled as the teenagers struggled to pass it down again. “Alright, to the next step...” The pyromancer snapped his fingers and the bonfire lit up, illuminating the whole area under the already dawning sun. Turning to the kids once more. “Do it in one go, it’s not going to get any better!”

Finishing their drinks as instructed, Evelyn was quick to recover in order to ask. “What else?”

Red Harvest was already setting up his own space on the ground for the ritual, spreading his mat and a makeshift drum on the side. “Let the magic do its work, and find something else to do, the ritual can’t be interrupted.”

Roberta took another glance at the kids and said. “We’ll stay close. If you need anything just yell.” She and Samuel then left the fire pit before things started and went back into the bar.

Kaito saw the two of them leave, unsure of what was going to happen next. He kept silent and gazed dead ahead into the fire illuminating them. He then turned towards his companion to his left. He just stared at her with a blank expression until he was able to come up with something to say. “Hey...uhm...D-Do you feel anything different?”

Jumping slightly in surprise, Evelyn tried covering her chest out of instinct, since she was still wearing only her underwear to cover her up. “N-Nothing different...Just a bit numb on the body.”

“Yeah, I feel the same too...” Was the only answer he could come up with. Kaito waited almost eagerly for something to happen, for something to appear in front of them and scare him. But nothing happened and the boy was getting impatient.

They only saw Red Harvest say something to himself for a couple of seconds, with Rider also standing next to him and preparing his own body with the remaining paint they used on their bodies before he started dancing around the fire.

In the middle of all this, Evelyn quickly said. “I wasn’t crying because of what you think.” The boy heard that and perked up, remembering last night when they had to comfort her in the back room, but the girl hadn’t brought it up since. “I heard everything you said and, yes, I felt very sad, but it wasn’t about that.” Well, not just because of that. “Those words, they made me realize how useless I am and have been. You all are full of experience and know how to deal with tough moments, and I cry for losing Saber. I felt so helpless and powerless when I instead had to move on and do this work. I felt like everything was crashing down and the only thing I could do was cry.” Nothing else she could say, really. It was a lot to take at the moment and it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary to need some time to readjust, yet, her mission and the imminent danger should have been her first priority. “But not anymore. I'll do my best to fight the enemy, starting with this ritual.”

Looking at that serious and determined expression on Evelyn’s face made Kaito swell with a modest bit of pride. He didn’t speak more about it, though, either to affirm or deny. His smirk coupled with a lack of answer said enough. The mood lightened, he was comfortable enough to finally comment. “Damn, this sure feels a bit lackluster. I was hoping for more craziness to happen. Way more dancers and instruments playing, or at the very least, some special effects to get our attention...”

“And how are you so sure that isn’t the case…?” Cutting them off and catching their attention, Red Harvest spoke to them directly, still playing his drum with a serious expression. “How are you so sure we are alone here?”

Evelyn and Kaito had been so distracted by their moment, they hadn’t realized the scenery around them had been changing until they turned around to see it. The asphalt street they were sitting on was now sand and dirt, the buildings around them had disappeared and all the way to the horizon the only thing they could see was the starry sky. Night and stars, no cloud in sight, as far as their eyes could see. Even the wind seemed to have been banished from this scenery. And when they looked back to Red Harvest, his face was covered in black lines, with more people sitting around him playing different instruments, the shaman still looking right at them.

“Let me tell you my story...” More and more dancers appeared around the fire, seemingly out of nowhere. “My mother was ten when Wounded Knee happened. She survived by the skin of her teeth and never lived it down.” For some reason, the teenagers were unable to blink or look away from the old man, their whole attention was on him. “Then, ten years later, I was born. She treated me like some sort of chosen child, like...I was destined for great things...” The images they saw constantly contorted and distorted as he spoke, along with their senses. Soon neither Kaito or Evelyn could tell if they were awake or not, or if they were still inside their own bodies. With their last bit of consciousness, the teenagers heard, “She even named me after a great hero of our people...” the two of them completely losing themselves in their delusions at that point.

***

On the other side, the still lucid Samuel looked over at the bonfire. The only thing he could see was the same image from the beginning; The two teens were sitting next to each other, and Red Harvest was sitting facing them both. The only notable change with the teenagers was how their eyes had rolled to the back of their heads and a trail of saliva dripped out of their mouths.

Samuel chuckled, and called down. “Hey, are you good out here alone with the kids?” There was no answer from the shaman, who was clearly still too engrossed in his ritual. It looked like he had everything under control though. He shrugged, taking one last look at his student and the girl beside him before saying. “Alright, I’ll be inside the bar with Roberta, scream if you need anything!”

Making his way inside, he didn’t give the ritual a second thought. There were no other problems on the horizon, aside from the impending battle, and everyone else was currently occupied. Nothing would interfere now with his time alone with Roberta. “Hey, what are you doing?” He found the woman busy by the bar, lightly swishing the drink she held in her hand. Rounding down the bar, he came up from the other side so they could see eye to eye. “Whatcha got there?”

Roberta, who had been inside her own head, yanked her head back at the surprise. “Nothing, just… drawing some battle strategies over a map.” She had a small map of the town she found by the convenience store and had nothing else to do aside from drinking.

Picking up a clean glass and the same bottle of liquor she was having, he offered. “Great, let me help you.” Samuel fixed himself a drink while looking over her plans. “What are these circles around town?”

“Ambushes. I’ve been planning, dividing our available space in sections....” Taking another swig of her drink. “I have to find a way to split the enemy apart during their attack if I want to speak with Berserker alone.”

Rolling his eyes at that sentence, the pyromancer decided to fill her glass to the top once more. “Listen, I think you’re worrying too much about...”

“And I think you’re not taking this seriously enough.” Throwing him a stern glare, she put down the glass. “If you are not willing to give Berserker a chance then leave me to plan alone.”

“You know it’s not that...” She gave him another angry look as if she saw right through his placation. “Alright, it’s exactly that. The kid is Jack the Ripper; he isn’t going to get any better, and he is a Servant so it’s not like you can keep it around after everything is over.” At this point he received nothing from the woman; she just kept her eyes down at the map. “Instead of looking after a make believe child you should focus on the real ones we have. Hypothetically speaking I mean. Like me with Kaito. Sure he isn’t all that good with the magecraft yet...” Letting out a small chuckle there. “But I mean, when I was his age...”

Roberta cut him off. “When you were his age you had a stable home life, a teacher that supported you, and me to stop you from doing anything stupid.” Reclining back in her seat with her arms crossed. “What does he have? I mean, did you ever even search for any relatives of his? Did you ever think for a second that you taking him in wasn’t the best outcome for him?”

Samuel held his hands up in defense and earnest confusion. “Where is this coming from? This isn’t new for you or me. Your mother did the same thing with me when I was little.”

“Yeah, and you know what? I’m beginning to suspect it messed you up more than you let on.” Samuel remained still. “The way you treat Kai, you haven’t grown up in years, and tell me: what’s the longest you have stayed in one place?” Feeling she should make it to the point of her rant, she stopped the questions and decided to speak freely, more so than she already had. “The more I see you and Kai, the more I think you wouldn’t...” She stopped herself before going too far.

Samuel picked up on that, “What?” But she remained silent. “What were you going to say? Tell me.”

Rubbing the sides of her head, Roberta stood up and tried to walk away. “Forget it, I’m going to bed.” Getting up from the stool she was sitting on, she stumbled around a bit until she sat back down on her seat.

Samuel quickly went to her aid. “Woah. Maybe take it easy with so much drink in you. Here, let me help you to your room.” It was the least he could do after incurring such wrath.

The woman swatted his hands away though, not making an effort to stand up again. “I’m fine, I don’t really need to sleep. Just… leave me alone…”

***

At the same time, around the center of town near the church, Lancer and Xiang were training for their upcoming fight. It wasn’t about testing or improving Lancer’s physical strength; not that they could do so without an opponent on the same level of a Servant, anyway, but to focus on her martial arts and all the moves and techniques she would need for her fight against Vox Saber.

The two women were busy trading blows at close range, busy not to break away from close combat, dodging and countering until one of them made a mistake the other could use. This took a long while to happen, and even at the end of it all, Master and Servant ended their little sparring by locking arms in a quick struggle, each of them separating after realizing a rest was in order. Both of them sat on the floor to catch their breaths, Xiang welcoming that pause a lot more than her blonde companion.

Taking a swig from her bottle of water, she let out a satisfied “Ah!”. Xiang took another quick gulp before checking on Lancer. “How’s the arm feeling?”

“Still looking, and feeling, good.” During this training, the Servant only had light clothes on, no bandages or the like over her previously injured arm. “I’m beginning to think I’ll be back at full strength in time for the rematch!” Even her desire to fight was rising, halted in no way by the sparring heating her blood up, making her so eager to face her next opponent. “What about you, Master? Feeling alright?” She could hear some heavy breathing still going on from Xiang’s side. “Ready to keep going?”

Flinching at that, the human girl was honestly surprised she had been able to keep up with Lancer’s pace for so long, even when she knew her Servant was going a bit easy on her. Recovering her energy wasn’t going to be as easy, or fast, for her human body. “Give me a bit more time...”

Thinking of a way to pass the immediate time, Lancer thought of a good topic of conversation. “You know, you’re a talented fighter. Trust me; I recognize a natural when I see it.” Truthfully, there was not much else those two had in common. “Your dad was right, you’re just like me.”

Silently smirking, the Master said. “Thanks. It’s that and all my training that has made me a great fighter.” Her breathing began to calm down as well as her heartbeat, but while she still had the chance, there was still one thing she wanted to ask. “Say, I have seen you fight and I have seen how you used magecraft, but what about your other powers?”

Perking her ears, Lancer asked. “Which ones specifically are you talking about?” Her Master would need to narrow it down.

After thinking about it for a couple of seconds. “Can you shapeshift at will?” It was this one that she was most curious about.

After a moment of thought, Lancer made a swift turn in place and her appearance changed, as if she were lifting a veil from her body, and gave her Master a good look at her new form. “You mean like this?” And, to confuse her a little bit, Lancer took Xiang’s form, right down to the clothes and voice. “Our bodies are almost the same proportions, so if I had to fight like this, it wouldn’t take much adjusting. For something bigger or smaller, I’d need to acclimate.” Nonetheless, there was still one small detail that escaped her.

Xiang immediately noticed her tail sticking behind. “I guess your tail won’t go away.”

“Yeah. Never found a way to hide it.” The Servant gave her blonde tail a quick inspection before moving on. “Not that it matters. I can still fight in any shape or form.” Though her movements felt a bit awkward in a completely different body shape.

“Wait, so...” A small thought crossing Xiang’s mind. “Is your human form not your ‘real’ form?”

Stopping in place, Lancer gave her a kind of confused look before answering. “No? I mean, humans don’t have tails...” She found that question weird as she imagined her true nature to be a taken fact already. “I just thought having a huge monkey running around wouldn’t be inconspicuous.”

Almost instantly, the Master asked. “Can I see it?”

“Eeeehhh, not right now...” Lancer smirked a bit. It wasn’t an outlandish or even a rude request. The Servant merely felt like that could wait, for now. “But I’ll show you another power of mine...” Summoning her staff to her hand and going back to her normal form. “I can sense demons and evil beings...” Aiming at one of the walls, like looking through the solid building. “But, honestly, this one is so strong I don’t even need my magic to feel its presence.” Extending the end of her staff all the way to the nearby forest line on the other side, she couldn’t feel her attack landing but Xiang had already rushed outside to take a look.

Catching a good, and small, glimpse of a dark figure retreating. “It’s the enemy! They are attacking!”

“No, that thing is alone.” Lancer stopped her Master before they got separated. “It's retreating alone instead of advancing.”

Waiting for a couple of moments before making their next move, Xiang remained completely quiet before asking. “Then, what? Was it only scouting?”

Getting up, and with a strange look on her face, half mad half glad, Lancer said. “Yes, it was alone, and I don’t think it was my attack that scared it off...”

Before Xiang could react to that she witnessed what Lancer was referring to. From out of the tree line came horse riders, all of them sharing the same bright and ghostly eyes. The two girls stared in awe as the first row of warriors walked into town on top of their horses, their skin red and their faces so serious you’d think they were ready for war. Seeing it made Xiang realise immediately. “It’s Rider! His Noble Phantasm.”

Even Lancer had to admit she was amazed at the sight; there truly was no end to them. “Their horses feel so weird.” She tried running her hand over one of the white eyed animals, not getting any kind of reaction from them. “With numbers like this, I don’t think we will have any trouble with the enemy. Although...” Thinking on that, she had to leave one thing clear. “They better not interfere in my fight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think, there's no bad comment here :P

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone cares to tell me what tags I might have missed don't be shy and tell me about them.
> 
> As always, comment and tell me what you thought!


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